Tag: Patricia Boe

“My sister and I used to be very close … But our political differences have spilled into our relationship as a whole and we now barely speak, aside from surface level conversations.” “Suffice it to say, Thanksgiving this year is at her house, and politics is absolutely banned as a topic of conversation.” It’s a rule that might come in handy at many Thanksgiving tables, particularly in the wake of the first election of the Trump era. Of course, familial political divides didn’t start with Trump. But his presidency has highlighted a growing polarization in the country that has turned even close family members into combatants. A Reuters/Ipsos poll conducted early last year found that the number of people who said they’d argued with a family member about politics jumped 6 percent after Trump’s election. That wave could turn into holiday obnoxiousness. “This could be a ‘We won the House’ Thanksgiving.” But any blue gloating might be tempered by the fact that the Democrats didn’t win the Senate and, for at least two more years and possibly six, Trump is likely to remain president. “So the gloating might happen, but the reaction from right-leaning family members might be different as they may feel that they still have some control.” “Need to yell back” Alex Graf, a 24-year-old self-described democratic socialist from Huntington Beach, has a mother and stepfather, as well as a father and stepmother, who all voted for Trump. You kind of feel the need to yell back.” What helps is talking more about policy and less about politics. But when they talk about personalities “it doesn’t always work out,” Graf added, “because Trump is such a prominent figure.” John Berry, a conservative activist from Redlands involved with his town’s local tea party group, is married to a liberal. Think of the Marshall Plan to rebuild Germany and Europe after World War II.” Boe, who campaigned for two victorious Democratic congressional candidates in Orange County, Harley Rouda and Katie Porter, recalled receiving an election night text from her “very conservative” mother.