I was registered to vote at 12:01 a.m. on my 18th birthday by my mother, who was Republican precinct chairman at the time. She still votes Republican despite being pro-choice and socially liberal -- at least in the Republican sense of it. I cannot begin to fathom why.

The weirdest thing has been watching my very militaristic, very Republican step-father (former Air Force officer) morph into a global warming expert and passionate advocate for conservation.

I haven't generally discuss politics with them, either, although I'm coming to have more in common with him than with her. That is extremely odd for me.