Back To James And Mary

What have been some of your observations about what occurs when two people who are initially unaligned politically end up establishing a longtime romantic partnership, married or not?

In my experience, it's much easier to predict what will occur if two people start out politically aligned and then later one of the partners has a significant change of heart. And I'm reasonably certain if my wife and I parted ways politically things would follow that same predictably rocky path.

But how many romantic partners do you know who hold onto their original, opposing political view without subsequent major fireworks? Though I don't know what their individual politics were before they married (and more importantly, I also don't know how much their opposing views are show business), I don't know a single couple like James Carville and Mary Matalin. On the other hand, I have many times observed one partner from unaligned partnerships like theirs adopting the other person's politics early on in the relationship. What I haven't yet discerned is any consistent reason for the shift that one person makes. Keep the peace? Not upset the children? Partner has persuaded partner? Shifting partner's views were not that grounded or informed at the outset? Some or all of the above?

Your observations?