Whether it's drunk uncle Rick at Christmas who thinks that Pauline Hanson has some salient points or that guy in your lunchtime running club who wants to "play the Devil's advocate" on Steve Bannon, there will be times that you come across people who sit on the other side of the political divide.
This is perhaps especially so on social media where you can realise with a jolt that your nice co-worker often shares slightly racist articles, or your cousin's profile photo is him wearing the Australian flag as a cape. But what happens when your life partner has dramatically different political view points and values than you do?
![Which way are you going to go? When politics wrecks your relationship.](/web/20170208091614im_/http://www.canberratimes.com.au/content/dam/images/g/u/8/6/s/d/image.related.articleLeadwide.620x349.gu86ux.png/1486527911528.jpg)
In the case of Gayle McCormick, a 73-year-old retired prison guard in California, it might just mean that you will leave your husband of 22 years when you realise that he supports Donald Trump.
Wife leaves husband of 22 years because he voted for Donald Trump https://t.co/3YZZ20vFU3
— The Independent (@Independent) February 7, 2017
McCormick tells The Independent that she was "stunned" when she heard her husband say that he planned to vote for Trump. It was, to borrow from Liz Lemon, a "deal breaker."
"It totally undid me that he could vote for Trump," said McCormick.
"I felt like I had been fooling myself," she continued. "It opened up areas between us I had not faced before. I realised how far I had gone in my life to accept things I would have never accepted when I was younger."
McCormick, who says she is too old to divorce her husband (who didn't end up voting for Trump), wants to live apart because she couldn't stand the thought of arguing with her husband every damn day.
And she isn't alone. Other people have spoken out about their strained relationships thanks to Trump, and pondered whether their marriages could actually survive their political differences.
The thing is, America, and the world, are still feeling the effects of the bone-shudderingly divisive election of Trump to president and the swiftness with which he set about writing controversial executive orders. Those who oppose him are rallying in the streets and airports. It's not a normal election and it likely doesn't make for lively yet mostly polite "agree to disagree" dinner party conversation.
As Jill Filipovic wrote in Time, "This is not just a political disagreement, as if one of you supports free trade agreements because you think they bolster the economy and the other believes they've wreaked havoc on the American working class. It's not a difference of political opinion, where you both want to see low-income Americans thrive, but you disagree on how to get there. This is about fundamental values: How should we treat other human beings? Is blatant, aggressive racism acceptable? Are women human?"
According to a Reuters/Ipsos poll of 6426 people between December 27 and January 18, people are arguing more with their family friends over politics by 6 percentage points. Meanwhile 16 per cent say that they have stopped talking to a family member or friend because of the election (up a tiny bit from 15 per cent) and 13 per cent of respondents said that they had nixed a relationship over the election, up a point from October.
There has been a push for people to get outside of their bubble and talk to people with different views than you (please take note President Trump, that just because something is different to your own views it doesn't necessarily mean that it's "fake news"). And there's plenty of advice on how a couple with different view points can make their relationship work (hint it involves a lot of respect).
But it's also worth considering the idea that just as you should believe someone when they show you who they really are, you should also believe them when they cast their vote.
And then wonder, just like Gayle McCormick, if you really want to spend a lifetime trying to convince them otherwise.
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