The Donkey Lies Down With The Elephant

Political posts on “06880” bring out passion on both sides of the aisle.

But Westport is Mayberry, compared to Washington, DC.

And if you live in the nation’s capital, and your passion is politics — but you’re looking for love (in all the wrong places) — well, things get very interesting.

The Huffington Post recently tackled the cross-party dating dilemma. In a story titled “Republicans Dating In D.C. Encounter Partisan Difficulties,” Ann Greenwood said that in Washington, “being a single straight Republican can be an especially lonely endeavor.”

Over 150 people commented on the story. One was 2005 Staples grad Amelia West.

She wrote:

I’m a very politically active D, and my very political live-in bf is an R. “How do you both do it?” has become a joke between friends and family.

We have dueling Romney/Obama bumper stickers on the car, and mixed signage in our apartment — hell, we even have donkey and elephant wine bottle corks.

We watched both conventions on C-SPAN, as our personal commentary was far better than anything on TV. We do do argue and discuss things, but it keeps us sharp, and our relationship interesting.

While it does sometimes really irritate me that he will argue with political ads on TV and spew off talking points, at the end of the day, we’re together because we care about each other and share numerous “core values and beliefs” — I think we are both good, decent, kind and caring people.

We both love our families, friends, and volunteer for causes we believe in. He would give the shirt off his back for someone in need, and that matters more to me than his political beliefs. At the end of the day, we’re far more similar than different.

In this age of political rancor — when everyone talks at, past or through each other — that’s sweet.

In fact, it’s more than sweet. It’s so unusual, it got Amelia an invitation to appear on a Huffington Post community panel.

Tomorrow (Monday, September 17, 1 p.m. EDT), Amelia will join (via webcam) a conversation on relationships that cross party lines.

It should be an interesting discussion.

And — in the spirit in which I have posted this story — let’s limit “comments” to this: If you can’t say something nice about the other party, don’t say anything at all.

PS: In 2008 Amelia attended the Democratic convention in Denver as vice chair of the George Washingotn University College Democrats. Matt worked for the Romney campaign in New Hampshire. This fall, their votes will cancel each other out.