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I, as a rule, don’t talk politics with potential mates, girls I’m dating, and girls I’ve been planning on marrying (of which there are many and include but are not limited to: Anna Kendrick, Taylor Swift, and Ariana Grande).
In fact, if politics get brought up in pretty much any situation, I play devil’s advocate without fail. Bunch of conservatives yacking it up? I go straight social justice warrior insufferable on them. Bunch of social justice hardos mixing it up? Go straight Republican on their ass. Roll Tide. I honestly don’t let politics rile me up, and I think that your personal beliefs should be kept private if you so choose, even if it’s with someone you’re dating. Anecdotally, my mom is pure Dem and my dad leans way more conservative, yet they still make it work. Isn’t the old saying “opposites attract” anyway?
Welp, apparently not in Washington DC, where it’s becoming nearly impossible to date outside of your political party. Sad!
Per The Washingtonian:
Washington has the most singles actively dating and using dating apps, according to a recent Time Out ranking, so it’s not surprising that political standoffs would take place in packed bars and Bumble conversations. The League, a selective dating app, says its DC users are 15 times more likely to mention politics in their bios since the 2016 presidential election, and one-third say they wouldn’t date someone with contrasting political beliefs.
In a city as overwhelmingly Democratic as DC, the combination of lingering anger over Hillary Clinton‘s loss and President Trump‘s existence makes it tricky for conservatives to date across party lines.
“A lot of times you’ll connect with someone [on an app] and they’ll Google you, find out you worked for Trump’s campaign, and then it’s pretty much all downhill from there,” says a Trump Administration official.
People who work in right-wing media say they don’t have it any better.
“The political divide has gotten so wide that a lot of younger liberals don’t have any interest in meeting conservatives,” says a reporter at a conservative media company. Working for a right-wing publication is such an obstacle to dating in DC, he doesn’t put his employer on any dating apps and avoids talking about it until meeting someone face-to-face, he says.
“The policies and these things that are attached to the right whether or not you’re a supporter of Trump have been pre-supposed on you, and it’s like a black mark,” says another reporter at the same outlet, who describes himself as a moderate conservative.
He once brought a woman back to his place, and while checking out his bookshelf, she noticed some books by conservative thinkers, he says. “She was like, ‘Oh no. First question: Did you vote for Trump?’,” the reporter says. He told her no, but that he was conservative. “She was like ‘I have to get out of here. I can’t see you,’ and left.”
Okay, first of all, let me give y’all some free advice. STOP MENTIONING POLITICS IN YOUR DATING APP PROFILES. That advice is free. Next tidbit is going to cost you, though. Seriously, why are we mentioning politics in our profiles? Why are we trying to mix politics and sex?
Next thing that’s important to keep in mind: you don’t have to agree with their political beliefs to still put the moves on them and try and schtup. And, more optimistically, if you really hit it off with the person and the only thing missing is political alignment? Give it a try anyway. That advice is free, too, actually. I’ve been seeing someone like two months, probably spans 20+ dates, several sober sex sessions and even more drunk ones that end in neither of us satisfied, and you know how many times politics has come up in conversation? Zero. Goose egg. I have NO IDEA if she’s a Donkey or an Elephant. (Politically speaking; she’s slightly prettier than those beasts). And guess what? Jimmy crack corn and I don’t care.
D.C. millennials, give it a try. Try dating and talk about literally anything else besides politics. It’s eye-opening and hey! Maybe your date will think it’s refreshing that you’ve got other interests besides the happenings on Capitol Hill.
Let’s practice. This is a scenario of two people, one a conservative and one a liberal, out on a first date.
Person 1: So, who’d you vote for?
Person 2: Um, I didn’t vote.
Person 1: *head explodes* WTF, how could you not vote?! It’s your duty as a citizen and as a millennial in this great political hotbed we call a city!
Person 2: I went to the polls, but then I remembered our country is screwed either way, so I went home to crack stick and eat pizza.
Boom. Dating without politics solved.
P.S. Best quote from the entire article: “Conversely, a young White House staffer says she typically looks for someone from the South when swiping through profiles, as she thinks they’ll be more receptive to her support of the President. She swipes left on anyone who went to a small, liberal-arts college or has a photo “wearing one of those pink hats on their heads” at the Women’s March, she says, as she thinks they wouldn’t be compatible.” *tears emojis everywhere* .
Respond
Boston Max
Spending my retirement fund at Trader Joe's and trying to remember to check my mailbox semi-regularly
@BostonMaxG
@boston_maxg
yeah guys, these DC folks are fucking crazy. Why keep drilling yourself down the same rabbit hole of banality and 1 dimensional thought process when you can realize that its all complete bullshit and then realize that these politicians attend the same mascaraed orgy porno parties as they politically penetrate our sex lives and siphon off our livelihoods while being balls deep in each other’s caviar smeared orifices as gospel harp music softly plays in the background lol
“Caviar smeared orifices” is possibly the best worst thing you’ve ever said
thanks, man
I respect the troll game
I’m on to you BostonMax. This entire article was written so you could sneak in a paragraph about how you’ve been having sex for two months. Congrats, by the way.
Discussing politics is a great way to get some good anger sex then never speaking to that person again outside some passive aggressive tweets to each other at 230am.
Also, is Anna Kendrick possibly the most well rounded babe of all time? I think so.
“Why are we trying to mix politics and sex?” It’s DC, man. Why are any of us even here otherwise?
That being said, I agree with you. While I’m absolutely guilty of discussing politics on first dates and even in the bedroom (I’m the worst), differing political beliefs don’t automatically disqualify someone as long as we can have intelligent, informed and respectful conversations about it, and then move on to something else.
How does political bedroom talk work? “I’m gonna ride you like a Bush rides his family name into politics without any real experience”??
Oh god. I’m not that awful. It doesn’t happen often, but it does happen. Most recently, I was hooking up with this guy (I’m a dem and he’s a republican) and told him I thought it was hot when guys took charge and control in the bedroom. He said he thought I was a feminist, which led to a topless discussion about my views on feminism and sex. Still hooked up though, which is what really matters.
Congrats on the rough sex.
AC just went out in our building….
Sup?
“Spank me like the Communists spanked the Cuban Exiles during the Bay of Pigs”
Fuck Georgetown
Well the simple explanation here is that everyone in DC is a giant loser.
^
Political discussions are a great way to find out what someone is really like- what their opinions are on certain topics really dont matter, but if someone cant have a civil, well thought out discussion because they are always need to be right or get defensive and combative when someone doesnt agree with them, that it not a person you want to date long-term. That said, its something for a few months into a relationship, not the first date.
Never lived in DC, but did work in campaigns. I could date a conservative, but doubt I could get into a serious relationship with an ardent Trump supporter. Or Ted Cruz. Ideological differences are just too hard to bridge in some cases.
I don’t think anyone could get into a serious relationship with Ted Cruz, not alone on that one.
Though I do support his views on queso
Depends on what you’re using the apps for. If you’re just trying to bang then yeah I’d recommend skipping politics. But if you’re actually using dating apps for *gasp* dating in DC then it makes sense that politics is one of the most important issues.
Anyone who feels the need to discuss politics on a first date is probably someone I wouldn’t want to date.
To each their own. Anyone who doesn’t want to discuss politics on the first date is not someone I would want to date.
As a DC Republican dating a Democrat I met during November 2016, I disagree with this. Looking for someone who doesn’t totally suck is a fairly bipartisan endeavor.
Alternate headline: “Insufferable Trump staffers can’t get laid, blame all women rather than have moment of introspection.”
Sup?