Becoming Republican For Love
Falling in love changes a woman's political views.
Politics makes for strange bedfellows indeed. My husband and I have been married for 21 argumentative years. Technically 10 argumentative years, until I switched my political party affiliations. We had never seen eye to eye on anything, and we rarely had the same opinion on politics. When we first met, we had rousing arguments about who should be President of the United States. We had different opinions on why past politicians did lousy jobs as president or vice president. The only issue on which we agreed was that President Ronald Reagan's trickle down theory of economics was benefiting people who were already rich.
When we met in college we were both registered as Independents. After about seven years of marriage, he registered as a Republican and I stayed fast as an Independent. Being an Independent, I finally realized, was akin to having no affiliation with any political party. That meant an Independent either had a dearth or surplus of political candidates begging at her door for a vote.
We don't argue about politics anymore. I waved the white flag for the war to end; I surrendered. We no longer argue about politics because several years ago I reformed, came over to the dark side, was taken over by aliens, whatever you want to call it: I became a Republican.
The turning point came when we moved from our hometown to a smaller town for a much better opportunity. My husband had a radio talk show much like Rush Limbaugh's for about ten years. Listening to my husband on the radio every day completely changed my viewpoint. Maybe it was the strangeness of a new town, but I fell in love with my husband all over again. Every day on the radio, while I was hunkering down as a stay-at-home mom and settling us into our new home, he did his show. He covered local politics, and interviewed local and national people of interest. Though for a small-town station, he interviewed children's book authors, prominent figures involved in the 9-11 aftermath, Hillary Clinton, Rudi Giuliani, and many other notable people.
While listening to my husband every day, I started to really learn about politics. I discovered more about the world than I had in years. I learned so much about politics from my husband that I switched my party affiliation to Republican. I always knew what his politics were, but listening to him really brought me over to the other side. I felt abreast of the political world. For the first time, we voted for the same presidential candidate. Even though I still leave the room when he watches the presidential debates on television (he literally screams at the TV), we don't argue about politics anymore. In fact, we get along better now. By listening to my husband every day on the radio, I realized what a truly intelligent guy I married. I realized how lucky I was to have met him in the first place.
If I had married someone else, I would never have had my eyes opened to politics and I would never have learned so much about it. I would be very much like a mindless orb wandering around clueless to the world of politics. Right now, I still might be an Independent floating around undecided about my party affiliation and the important role politics and politicians have in our everyday lives.
Discussion
It's almost like changing your religion for marriage. it sounds unlikely, but I believe if someone were to change their political views it would be because they've truly come to believe it. People are so passionate about their political beliefs so it's not something you can just pay lip service to.
When two people with different opinions and backgrounds get married, they will unavoidably become similar to each other in a lot ways - that's just what happens in marriage. You start to see things from their point of view and vice versa. People often get divorces when they can no longer deal with the differences. They have always been there, though. You have to see past your differences and learn to accept your spouse the way they are.
