Online Dating Blog

If you live in the United States, you’ll probably know that today is Super Tuesday. For anyone not familiar with U.S. politics, this is the day where the largest number of states will hold their primaries in the process to select a party’s presidential candidate. I still have some time before I’ll be voting (I live in Pennsylvania) but some recent discussions with my wife have gotten me thinking about dating and politics. In particular, when I was dating I remember seeing people who limited who they would date based on political beliefs. Often these people would state that simply belonging to the opposing political party meant they would never, ever, ever, ever date you. That’s totally reasonable, really, but their emphasis often bordered on humorous.

It was apparent by our second date that my wife and I have very different views on many political issues. However, the fact that everything else between us matched up so well made the differences insubstantial. Today, our beliefs are closer to each other’s than at the beginning but there are still significant differences. As an example, in our state’s primary I’m supporting Ron Paul while Kate, who was supporting Hillary Clinton until recently, seems to be drifting toward Barack Obama.

Looking back over the years we’ve been together, I believe these political differences have been a very good thing for our relationship. In some ways it has helped me to see what Democrats believe and why, not what I was told they believed by Republicans who had already made up their own mind. And now, it makes me wonder: why are we so quick to silence any voice that doesn’t agree with ours? You can see examples of it everywhere: whether it is booing at someone expressing a belief we disagree with or simply refusing to interact with someone not of a particular political party. Why not hear the other side out instead of waiting for our turn to yell?

To those with strong political convictions, I’m not suggesting you throw out your standards and date anyone of any political leaning. I would just like to point out that, for me, dating and eventually being married to someone with different views has been a very good thing. In some ways, it’s been so good that I hope our views never match up entirely. I have found too much value hearing the opinions from someone on the other side of the aisle.

There are Republicans with socially liberal views and Democrats with strong views on national defense. And even when agreement is found lacking, is exposure to an opposing view really that bad? I would encourage everyone to try to avoid allowing a label to scare you off from a potentially great relationship (or at least a decent date).