And many people who lean a particular direction change their beliefs even later in life. They become disillusioned by the vast gulf that seems to exist between a party's stated goals, and their actual agenda. For example, I often say that George Bush created more liberals than all the Kennedys put together. But then, I'm sure some will counter that Obama created more conservatives than Reagan, or something similar.

For my part, I rarely discuss politics or religion, though I am interested in both. Both subjects seem to cause as much division as consensus.