A Democrat’s Guide To Sleeping With Republicans (& Vice Versa)

You swipe right. It’s a match, which leads to a pretty great first date and an even better second date. Then, the third date comes, and you’re legit enchanted — until your new friend drops The Bomb. Nope, not the "I have a secret family in Nevada" bomb. The Crazy Political Bomb, the "I only thought delusional people my grandparents' age actually believed that" bomb. But, the magic doesn’t just disappear from the Tecate-tinged air upon impact. You don't want to give up; you already envisioned you two bickering over Netflix choices on a cozy couch in February. So, what do you do?

A new body of research shows that partyism might be the last remaining American prejudice, and it's on the rise. In 1960, only about 5% of Republicans and Democrats said they'd care if their kids married someone from the other party. Now, it's nearly 10 times that: 49% of Republicans and 33% of Democrats wouldn't be okay with cross-party dating. Partyism, much like the other ugly -isms, places judgement on a small facet of what makes a human being — in this case, your political alliance.

And, like all prejudices, we should fight to avoid it, both for political reasons (no matter which side you're on, I think we can agree the in-fighting has gotten out of control) and personal reasons. After all, why eliminate so many potential flings? There’s no reason liberals can’t share bedsheet-shredding orgasms with conservatives, or that a a Libertarian can't joyously join a Nader disciple in holy matrimony. To save you time head-scratching — and to expand your potential sexual-conquest pool — we cobbled together a simple list of rules for sleeping across the aisle.