I had a couple of interesting conversations with friends yesterday. It was a beautiful day here in Wisconsin, so I spent the afternoon outside along the lake with one friend who is an East Coast-raised, bisexual environmental lawyer. So yeah, she's a liberal. Anyway, what was nice about this first conversation was that it was genial and rational. We questioned each other's beliefs, but then actually stopped to listen to the answers. That's the key. Listening. Too often, these types of conversations turn into each person trying to desperately proclaim their beliefs and belittle or demonize the opposition. It serves no real purpose other than trying to "win" the conversation.

Read that last phrase again. "Win the conversation." As much as politicians try to win the election, some of their supporters try too hard to win the conversation with their friends and enemies. It takes a certain kind of unhinged person to literally beat up someone who dares to hold up a sign supporting the other candidate, but it doesn't take much of a leap at all to find yourself in an unpleasantly heated political conversation with a friend.

And that's where I found myself later in the day. Actually, it wasn't a conversation at all, it was an argument via Facebook status updates (yeah, really). Even though I know it's smarter to just let some things go, sometimes I can't and I don't. In fact, I try to avoid political conversations altogether. Living in Madison, I know that most people are quite liberal (hence Kerry getting over 95% of the vote in my ward in 2004), but that doesn't mean they're bad people. Like conservatives, libertarians and the like, they want what's best for their country, they just believe in a different way of getting there. They're wrong, but not evil.

That last point is what ultimately provoked me into a contentious argument. In the heat of the election year, the rhetoric from some of my liberal friends is that no, I'm not just wrong, I'm evil. I don't think they really believe that. I think that's the emotion of the election and the frustration of the last two Presidential elections talking. At least I hope so. I'm prepared for my candidate to lose the election (well, especially since I'll most likely vote for a 3rd party), but I'm certainly not prepared to lose friendships.

What about the rest of you? Are you getting into trouble with friends from other political parties? How do you deal with potentially heated political discussions this time of year?