10 Things I like about you: A list for friends on the 'other side' of the political aisle

Here’s the list I have for those who are on the other side of the aisle from me regarding politics this season. I have come up with a list of outstanding values and things we have in common with those who we feel we cannot talk to from ‘the other side’ of the political aisle.

1)      Your Respect for our common values: If you are truly a friend, you will recognize that we all have ideals and values that we are working to protect when we decide to vote and to support candidates. These are part of who we are and why we feel passionate about certain subjects.

2)      Your values and core beliefs: In this same vein, not only the common values we share, like love of country and belief that the country we support is great and continues to be great, we have core beliefs in basic things like love of family and hope that we will leave our world a better place for our children.

3)      The Fact that you listen is something that I will have to work on as part of my own failings. I don’t always listen when I hear things I don’t like. I try to understand that what you are saying comes from a place other than my own viewpoint, but I think that behind what you are saying are these same core beliefs and values that we share, and I have to respect you enough to actually listen to what you have to say, and I want you to do the same for me.

4)      Your love for your family is the thing that binds us together. As we look at the pictures of past wars, our fathers who fought in the great wars, and our own lives where our children are growing up and we hope to teach them about those same core beliefs and values that our parents and grandparents knew and thrived on, these are the things that keep us going and bind us together in our community.

5)      Your love of country is the thing that should actually bring us closer. Yes, we disagree about the way that we may institute tax policy or border security, but the main thing is that we both understand we are working to try and make the country better and safer and a more perfect union in the 21^st Century. These things need to bind us together and not tear us apart.

6)      Your dedication to what you believe is something that never ceases to amaze me. I may not believe the same things your party does, but the dedication and sheer force of will does make me admire you for the strength of purpose from which you study the history of your political party and forge a path forward for your beliefs.

7)      Your sense of humor is my sense of humor. We share the same values in areas like sports, entertainment, global politics, achievements in the arts & sciences, and our awe of great performances and our love and pride of country when we watch the Olympics or see great movies together. We share these common experiences, and we can laugh at some of the funniest things we see. The foibles of everyday life are always something we will have in common. And we must never lose the ability to laugh even at ourselves, and the absurdity of our leaders and our own political parties as we all struggle to work through the multi-media messaging world we live in.

8)      We spoke of your dedication to your beliefs and your core values that we admire. We also admire dedication to cause, and the ability to persevere and to stand up for what we believe is right, even if it flies in the face of adversity. We are always hoping that we are on the side of victory, but we pray that we are going to be on the side of God and of righteousness in the long run, no matter which side of the aisle we are on.

9)      I like the fact that you have worked, as in any great relationship or marriage or long term friendship, through the years to make our friendship work by respecting my opinion and also liking me as a friend, and loving me as a person enough to persevere and that you feel that our friendship is worth saving, in spite of our differences.

10)  I know I will be there for you and I know you will be there for me. It’s as simple as that-in the end, in the foxhole, I want you to be beside me. I don’t care about the color of your skin or who you voted for or who you love or what you do in the privacy of your home, I love you for who you are today and the fact that you are my friend, and I will go to the mat for you and I believe you would do the same for me.

As you may have guessed, I have a friend in mind as I write this piece, in fact several friends. I’m sure many of you have several family members or close friends that might also come to mind as you scroll through this list. I’m hoping that we can use some of these ideas going forward, particularly as we begin another perilous campaign season fraught with controversy and surprises that await us. Here’s hoping we may take a minute in the heat of the campaign to simply take a breath and think about some of the reasons that we like those who are on the other side of the aisle from us.