Can You Date Someone with Different Political Beliefs?

Politics and sex have gone together since before Marilyn Monroe sang a sultry happy birthday to John F. Kennedy and it's only gotten sexier ever since. But did you ever stop to wonder if political parties ever played a role in their off-marital affairs? And what about you? Would you ever consider dating someone who had different political beliefs? Would that even matter? When should you ask the question? According to a recent survey conducted by Zoosk.com, you find find the political yet sexual findings a but alarming.

In a more elaborate game of "who would you rather" Zoosk surveyed over 1,000 singles and asked some some very pertinent questions and discovered that Sarah Palin was chosen as the most dateable person winning 32% of the vote while Hillary Rodham Clinton received only 6%. While the singles who voted for Palin didn't agree with her political lip service, with 32% of the vote, it seems they did agree on her lipstick and her sexy political aura she exudes. Can a person who is heavily involved in politics really ever fall for someone with a different political POV? Can I accept your pro-abortion stance when I myself was adopted? Would you accept my leniency vote on immigration while you still carry the BUSH bumper sticker on your Toyota Corola? Are polar political opposites doomed to fail? Maria Shriver and Arnold Schwarzenegger seem to make it work. How can a couple survive such political back and forth; by keeping three things in mind.

1. No one issue should keep people apart. According to Suite101's article on When Democrats and Republicans Date; there are some risks when political opposites date, like; polarzing (taking opposite stances in argument), difficulty respecting one's partner for the different beliefs they hold, and it may increase disagreements over key life choice and values. But should one issue--like politics--make or break a romance? If you really like someone and have feeling for them--can you agree to disagree? Some people have to take that stance on cereal preferences and they still manage to remain civil, so why can't we cross that over into politics?

2. Debating is healthy. From a sociological stand point, we tend to date within our own types; same educational level, similar upbringing and agreement on political views, but who wants to be in a boring relationship where everything is agreed upon? Liven up the conversation and up the level of sparks between the two of you. Go to town on a hot topic, make it a game, you can even punish the loser in a sexy way. Why are we steering clear from the fundamental point that no two people are going to agree all of the time and debating and exploring one another's view points leads to healthy discussions. I mean, if Maria and the Terminator can do it--surely, you can to.

3. You can't have it all--that's just a given in life, and things aren't that different when it comes to romance. We all have that mental check-list that we carry around telling us if the person we're sitting across is our perfect match. It's time to rework that list if having the same political values it on it. Are you really going to throw away your chance of happiness for the sake of politics? According to Zoosk's poll, when it comes to love, singles don't let politics get in the way, in fact, 87% of singles said they date outside of their political party. And it should come as so surprise that the majority of men polled said Nancy and Ronald Regan had the strongest marriage while Michelle and Barack Obama, according to the women, ranked as the politically love birds with the strongest union. Looks like these singles may be onto something lovely, especially since both men and women agreed on one thing - George H. and Barbara Bush captured the least number of votes for best marriage.