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Friday, October 31, 2008

Politics divides families, friends

John Kusic is a die-hard Democrat who talks politics nonstop, even at the office where Republicans and Democrats are always willing to fight it out. Recently, however, he and his wife attended a dinner party with limitations.

"The husband and wife were staunch Republicans, and they had a rule that they didn't want to talk politics," he said. "My wife looked at me and said, 'Don't you dare try to weasel into' " a political discussion.

Aside from the random dig, people stuck to the rule.

"No one wanted to offend the host and hostess," he said.

This refusal to talk politics -- or the inability to stop arguing about it -- illustrates the increasing polarization of the American electorate. The campaigns of Barack Obama


and John McCain are streaming rhetoric with just four days to go before the election. And the deep divide is mangling social networks from hair salons to coffee clubs.

Studies from the Pew Research Center for People and the Press shows a widening abyss. Over 20 years, researchers have asked the same questions of Republicans and Democrats and discovered a growing divide over everything from national security to social values.

A 2007 study found that three-quarters of Americans said they liked political leaders who were willing to compromise. But when it comes to hot-button issues -- such as abortion or the war in Iraq -- people wanted their side to win.

Take the gathering of Latina lawyers who've met weekly for 20 years. Most, passionate Democrats, were stunned last week when a new woman showed up to express her excitement about Sarah Palin.

"It was an incredibly hot debate," said Teresa Casilla, who plans to call the woman and apologize. "I had to stand up and walk around, I was so upset."

Different people have different strategies.

"We walk the line," said Michael Schaffer, owner of the Red Room, the lunch-hour hot- spot for statehouse politicos.

"People walk in and say, 'Who're you voting
Carolyn and Geoff Blue strike a pose in their front yard, where Democrat Carolyn's political signs are lined up on the left and Republican Geoff's on the right. From coffee shops to front lawns, the election has accentuated the political divide in America. (RJ Sangosti, The Denver Post )
for?' I tell them that it's my personal choice."

Any answer would upset half his clientele.

The political divide is nowhere more evident than the yard of Geoff and Carolyn Blue. The left side of their lawn sports her Democratic yard signs while the right side is dominated by his Republican signs.

In their largely Democratic neighborhood, Geoff -- a former president of the Denver Metro Young Republicans -- is in the minority.

"People are fairly respectful about it," he said.

In larger circles, however, the Republican is ready for what has become a predictable discussion.

"The question I get all the time from hard- core Democrats is, 'You don't like Sarah Palin, do you?' "

When he says "yes," sometimes people want more detail.

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