When people start talking about politics around me, I tend to get a little, well, worked up. I follow politics closely (usually to the detriment of my blood pressure), but I’ve taken to largely keeping my mouth shut — under almost any circumstance.

Every once in a while, I’ll get drawn in to a conversation or debate and I always — always, I say — regret it. I say something stupid or divisive, and end up sounding like some sort of crazy polemic talk radio host (insert your favorite left or right polemicist here).

So here’s the grinding part of this diatribe, and the part that will likely get me in the most trouble. I’m a faithful LDS mother who cares about the environment. I care about issues of poverty, I care about free trade. I care about my right to have the opportunity to succeed. I worry about a welfare state. I believe that immigrants are children of God, not political fodder. I feel conflicted about Iraq. I love Jeffrey Sachs’ work. I fret over uninsured children, but cringe at government heavy-handedness.

I share this not to start a debate, but to pose a question to you. Do you feel comfortably at home with your political party? Would you, given the opportunity, attend your party’s convention with the gusto and fervor I see on the news coverage? Am I the one just being wishy-washy? I don’t feel right enough about any of it to wear a t-shirt, button, hat, or protest sign informing passersby of my opinion. It’s just too easy to see the other side. It’s too easy to understand where compassion and pragmatism meet, where free-love and discipline intersect, where grab-your-own-bootstraps and let-me-help-you-get-there both have a seat at the table. Where does all the fervor come from? How does anyone really know their position is right enough to start painting your face and screaming at a National Convention?

Let’s reason together here, friends. Both major political parties in the United States have a lot wrong with them. I wonder if the Lord would prefer me to vote one way and look past/ignore social and moral issues, or vote another way and look past/ignore greed and corruption issues.

When we are counseled to choose righteous leaders (and really, do we even really need to be told that’s a good idea?), it is incumbent upon us to be informed and choose wisely. How do you navigate this process? How do you sell yourself on a candidate? A party? I am just so precisely in the middle of the road that I cannot move for fear of falling off the road entirely.

So, can we still be friends?