My husband and I are very different in many ways.
He's a city boy and I'm a farm girl. I'm Protestant and he's Jewish. I'm addicted to Project Runway and he doesn't get it!
Even with those differences, our "mixed" marriage is strong. But I wasn't sure what was going to happen when it turned out that we had voted for different candidates in our state's presidential primary.
I voted for Hillary Clinton, but he voted for Barack Obama. To say I had Barack Shock would be an understatement.
You see, for as long as we've been together, for whatever differences we've had, we've always been on the same page politically. There has never been an electoral disagreement in our house -- until now. (At least he didn't vote outside the party -- now that WOULD
have been grounds for divorce!)
Apparently, we're not the only married couple working on this issue in 2008. And someone is trying to cash in on this phenomenon.
A press release that popped into my E-mail recently was titled: Can Democrats and Republicans Find True Love That Lasts (With Each Other)?: America's Love Doctor Gives Relationship Advice to Political Junkies in Love - Just in Time for the Elections.
Now, I have no problem with couples therapy, but who knew you could see a therapist for political wanderings?
Somehow James Carville and Mary Matalin make extreme political leanings work in their marriage, so I'm not worried that my husband and I will get past this little political bump in the road. Which I guess is bad news for America's Love Doctor. I don't think we really need her conflict management tools and her "Three C's of Love" to handle this difference of opinion.
But if you're a John McCain supporter in a relationship with an Obama fan, maybe a little conflict management couldn't hurt. Or, it could turn into Bravo's newest reality show -- something like a cross between The Biggest Loser and The Millionaire Matchmaker.
And if it does, I want a cut, 'cause you heard it here first!
When Joanne is done drafting the proposal for that new reality series, you can find her at her place, PunditMom.
It's amazing what people try to cash into.
My husband and I go in spurts. Some years we're in sync and others we're lightyears apart. These days he's 100% for Obama and I'm still torn. It's hard when your spouse isn't in agreement, but we've disagreed on worse things. I don't see it as something that deserves marriage counseling! ;)
Posted by: Cheryl | March 23, 2008 at 11:31 PM
The wife and I have been struggling through this as well. She came up with the perfect cure for it though, she just refuses to talk politics with me any longer, or at least until primary season is over.
Oh, we can still have the side chuckle together that there are actually people that believe McCain is a Maverick, despite him selling out and promising to govern just like Dubya. We laugh that somehow "change" in their world is redefined as more of the same, and we can be thankful that neither of us is THAT insane, and if that is the case, then we must be good enough to continue to live with and work through this issues with.
Posted by: JayMonster | March 24, 2008 at 07:14 AM
Josh is a Republican. We go round and round on the issues, but we both really get a kick out of the debates.
Posted by: Kyla | March 24, 2008 at 07:35 AM
In my household, I am the Obama supporter and my husband is the Hillary supporter. Like Jay Monster's household, we don't talk about it. Well we stopped talking about it after the state primaries. Now my husband just sends me anti-Barack emails and I post Obama stickers on the mirrors. Personally, I think this is a fun time for politics, especially, with 2 strong Democratic candidates. My children would agree.
Posted by: Jenn | March 30, 2008 at 02:49 PM