Did you lose friends...

[AprilBaby]

over the election? (Totally NON POLITICAL- I don''t care who you voted for, just if your vote lost you friends) I can''t believe how many friends are mad at me because I didn''t vote the same as them. I was totally non-vocal about the whole thing and only told if asked, but geeze, get over it! It''s a free country last I checked!

 

[Sabine]

No, although I am a pretty die-hard liberal and I have a close friend who is a pretty die-hard republican, it didn''t really cause any friction. We made a lot of jokes about it, and he has been a really good sport about being on the receiving end of the jokes since the election.

However, in 2004, I was still in college, and 2 of my roommates and I went to vote together. They voted for Bush, and I didn''t. That caused a lot of tension and friction in the apt. for a while, and it honestly changed my view of both of them to a degree. We''re still very close friends, but I still in a way hold it against them (not that I would against anyone who voted from him, it was much more about their reasons for voting for him). We do not talk about politics.

 

[iheartscience]

Luckily all my friends are liberal, so no!

 

[Kaleigh]

Many gave me a hard time, still do. Even my kids . But didn''t lose a friendship over it. If I did, I woudn''t think it was much of a friendship to begin with... My Dad was very angry with me. But he has done a 180 and supports my choice whole heartedly.

 

[AprilBaby]

Funny thing is, my friends are very religious, as am I, and the attitude they give now is very unreligious.

 

[tlh]

The last time someone got mad at me... I lifted my shirt a little and said... man I love my belly button.
Nothing like the truffle shuffle to give a people a few smiles!!!

 

[SarahLovesJS]

Not really, but I got treated badly or insulted a lot usually not by my friends though unless they were making generalizations and inadvertently included me. Still friends with them though, would never stop being someone''s friend over them having a different political view from me. In fact it seems most of my friends do have different political views from me.

 

[cellentani]

I didn''t lose any friends, but when my local jeweler asked who I voted for, I told him I wouldn''t tell him in case he raised his prices on me. He had a good laugh over that.

 

[WishfulThinking]

Not friends, but family. My situation regarding the election was a bit different than most peoples'', though, and I think given the nature of the particular situation the loss of relationships is justified. There are some things you can''t just "not talk about."

 

[Kaleigh]

Sarah is that a Bichon in your avatar? Sorry to be off topic. I have 2 Bichons...

 

[MichelleCarmen]

No, I didn''t lose any friends over the election. For the most part, about half my friends voted for one candidate and the other half, for the other candidate, and there was only one gal who would physically tense up whenever politics was brought up, so well, we tried to avoid such topics because we like each other and neither of us wanted to ruin our friendship over that.

 

[phoenixgirl]

That''s tough. Sorry to hear about the peer pressure!

I have experienced that in the past and lost friends over it. They couldn''t feel connected to me if I didn''t share the same views as they did, which I had in the past (or they assumed I had), and I wanted/expected to be accepted no matter what my views. A true case of "irreconcilable differences." I don''t think anyone is to blame in that case; it''s just sad to know that your relationship with some people is conditional when you thought it was unconditional. Or maybe it''s more fair to say that everyone has limits to what they can accept, but it''s shocking to find that for some people, it''s political views.

 

[Dancing Fire]

not friends,but money !!

 

[pennquaker09]

Yes, someone didn''t know I was half African American so obviously that didn''t end well.

 

[SarahLovesJS]

Date: 1/31/2009 9:56:54 PM
Author: Kaleigh
Sarah is that a Bichon in your avatar? Sorry to be off topic. I have 2 Bichons...

Yes, that''s my puppy (well not a puppy anymore) Georgia! I

Bichons! How old are your babies? Eeep I''ll stop thread-jacking hop over to your Who''s Who thread tomorrow so we can chat Bichon!

 

[Rhea]

No, I didn''t lose any friends. Most friends voted or would vote the same way I did. Those who didn''t are friends because we remain very respectful of our differences. My father was the worst. He always wanted to talk about it and try to push me into making a different decision through insults about my intellegence.

 

[Diamond*Dana]

Thankfully, no. My DH and I didn''t vote the same way either and there are no hard feelings.

 

[bebe]

I didn''t lose any friends, but there were a few heated discussions!!

 

[Elmorton]

I didn''t lose any friends, but I did lose respect for a few acquaintances. I think this election was really huge in terms of activism in my generation, so there were a lot of people talking politics. Some of the debates that I heard or participated in really revealed qualities in people - some qualities that I greatly admire, and other qualities were ones so significantly disturbing that I decided that I really didn''t want to be around people like that.

 

[Octavia]

I didn''t lose any friends, which is good because my friends run the spectrum from very liberal to very economically conservative (though somewhat less so socially). But I didn''t realize before the election how different my views were from those of my parents and especially my brother. I have been refusing to talk politics with them for the past three months because nobody is changing anyone else''s mind, we all get grumpy with each other, and it just ruins my visits home. I don''t generally advocate just shutting down on the subject, but for the moment I think it''s necessary; we''ll see how things go in a few more months.

 

[trillionaire]

I didn''t lose friends, but I did lose respect for some people.

 

[TravelingGal]

I have friends who are extremely conservative and others who are extremely liberal. I sit pretty well in the middle.

I lost no friends, nor did I lose any respect for them. They are my friends because I do respect them, their ability to have a good political discussion (and not just ranting) and their entire person as a whole. Their political views are only part of who they are, and I love the whole of them. I would never stop hanging out with a friend just because their political or religious beliefs were different from mine.

I dunno...maybe I just have great friends.

 

[Erin]

My boyfriend and I are complete opposites in the political arena. We don''t treat each other any differently over it. We respect that we have differing opinions that do not affect our daily lives. However, when Art Rooney thanked Barack Obama in his Steeler win speech last night, I got a good razzing for a few minutes

 

[princesss]

Nope, I didn''t lose any friends. I am friends with people I respect, and for me to respect a person, they have to be able to articulate a differing point of view respectfully. We can disagree all day, as long as we can do it calmly, and have a smile on our faces when it''s done.

However, the election brought to light a truly disgusting side of some people I know. It wasn''t their views on the election that really turned me off, it was the way they expressed their views on certain issues that really made my blood boil. But these are people I wouldn''t have considered friends before the election (and apparently for good reason).

 

[beau13]

Date: 1/31/2009 6:01:28 PM
Author:AprilBaby
over the election? (Totally NON POLITICAL- I don''t care who you voted for, just if your vote lost you friends) I can''t believe how many friends are mad at me because I didn''t vote the same as them. I was totally non-vocal about the whole thing and only told if asked, but geeze, get over it! It''s a free country last I checked!

WOW..really? Hard to believe a true friend would create static about something so petty!! Who cares who you vote for...I vote for new friends!!

 

[Linda W]

No, we all voted the same way.




Linda

 

[coatimundi_org]

Date: 2/2/2009 1:48:30 PM
Author: Linda W
No, we all voted the same way.





Linda

yup--me too.

 

[Kelli]

I didn''t. But I have noticed that there is one particular party (and for the record I don''t claim to be one or the other) that can REALLY get worked up over it. I don''t think it''s worth losing friends over and I do like to (calmy) debate over this and that, but when people start really getting upset, it''s just not worth talking about.

 

[Fleur_de_Lis]

No, but then again all my friends and family are the same political affiliation as I am. It was nice and easy in the months leading up to the election. Not as easy on election night but we've all moved on. Lol.

 

[musey]

Oh no. Everyone I''m friends with happened to vote for the same person I did

(I live in a very liberal area and am part of a typically liberal age group). Though there was some tension at my husband''s recent family reunion, where a large portion of them were repubs. They were throwing around jokes about Obama leading us into the end of the world before the close of his first year as president

that was fun.