Put political differences aside for friendship

Happy Monday. Perhaps some returning students opened the paper on Friday disappointed not to see my column in print. Perhaps some returning students are opening the paper today to look for the columns of Shawn Nottage and Sarah Thomas.

Sadly, both Shawn and Sarah have graduated. Their departure from UConn has allowed me to switch my weekly columns to Monday.

Thus, for my first Monday column I would like to address some of the history of Monday here at The Daily Campus Commentary section. For those of you who do not know, both Shawn and Sarah were writers with conservative beliefs -many of which ran contrary to my fundamental ideology.

Every Sunday, we would meet for an hour or so to discuss politics. In many circumstances, we had strong disagreements and arguments over what should be. But, in every case we moved on. While the underlying political beliefs for each of us were different, we understood where the other person was coming from.

From the start, Sarah, Shawn, all of the other weekly writers and I agreed to disagree. We agreed to look each other in the eye, not to poke each other in the eye.

As writers for The Daily Campus, Sarah and I wrote our columns each week, met to discuss politics and we reached separate conclusions. I knew she was conservative and she knew I was not. She was the cute girl I never talked to in my political science classes, who rarely said much but always had much to say. We may not have been friends then, but we are now.

Despite political disagreements, since her graduation both Sarah and I have become the best of friends. This is the lesson of politics - politicians must look through their disagreements to see their common points. The best public officials will know how to disagree and then they will put their differences behind because they value friendship. Hatred for one's opponents is destructive and it is most destructive for the person who hates.

Perhaps Shawn summarized it best when he wrote, "I happen to disagree with [Democrats], but that does not mean they have no right to say their part." In his farewell article, he acknowledged many of his friends are liberal and very few friends were fellow conservatives.

To those people who believe they must only have friends who share the same political beliefs and to those who establish partisan affiliation as a factor in searching for their significant other, I urge you to broaden your horizons. Politics is not all that is important in life and there is an important element in surrounding yourself with a diversity of opinion. If Sarah were here today, she would tell those ardent partisans to "build a bridge and then...get over it."

Thomas once wrote, "Open up your mind and accept other opinions and viewpoints as valid, even if you don't agree. For all our differences, we are all really the same - we're all people trying to do what we think is right." She understood what some of the most seasoned politicians fail to understand - that the majority of people, whether Democrat or Republican, are fighting for something they believe as true. If we as a society would become better listeners and open-minded friends, politics would change for the better.

From reading Sarah's columns and becoming friends with her, I have learned much about life. Four years ago, few would have probably believed that a liberal JFK fan from Connecticut would become good friends with a conservative cowgirl from Texas. Probably even fewer would have believed that I would learn how to don a cowboy hat and become a country music fan. However, such events have happened - many in thanks to my conservative friend.

Part of Sarah's brilliance was a keen ability to talk about issues more general than politics - issues such as country music, cowboys, culture and complaining. She brought fresh ideas on life to the table, and while interweaving her cultural values into the articles, she succeeded in inspiring her readers.

As I takeover writing on Mondays, I cannot and will not articulate the conservative views that Thomas and Nottage shared. But, I can promise my slightly more liberal ideology will share the same optimistic and positive view of politics about which they wrote so passionately.

Perhaps you are wondering why I am writing about two columnists long-gone from this campus. Perhaps you think that this article says little about politics. Well, maybe you are right. Maybe this article says more about life than politics. Nevertheless, the lessons of friendship, diversity, and politics are omnipotent and all connected.

I think this newspaper and this university have lost a great deal by the departure of the columnists who disagreed to me - the conservative Monday duo of Nottage/Thomas in addition to the always outspoken libertarian Sean Vivier.

Now a year from when we first met, the four of us have gone our separate ways. Nottage has thoughts of creating a political advising firm. Vivier is a teacher, instilling values and skills in America's youth, and Thomas is continuing her education in Denver. I, on the other hand, am still here at UConn, writing for the paper because I believe sharing ideas is important. Despite being thousands of miles apart, I have become friends with all three individuals. We all wish it had happened earlier.

If you are a liberal, let the conservative Texas cowgirl bring out the cowboy in you. If you are conservative, let the liberal Connecticut boy be your friend.

Sharing views on politics and life can be easy, but sharing yourself can be hard. Despite fears of uncertainty, become friends with people who disagree with you. If you do, your life will be better off. Sarah and Shawn, thank you amigos.

Sources:

Shawn Nottage. The Daily Campus. 26 April 2004.

Sarah Thomas. The Daily Campus. 6 October 2003 and 5 April 2004.