Parenting Along Party Lines?

I'm about to out myself here in a very embarrassing way. There's something I haven't told you all. Something I've been hiding. You see, I'm married to a, um, a, ahem... jeez, this is hard to say. OK, I'll whisper it to you - I'm married to a Republican. Now you know my horrible secret.

I wouldn't say that T is one of those judgmental, holier-than-though, "if you're a Democrat you're Satan" Republicans. I mean, he's not Ann Coulter. But he's a big believer in smaller government, fewer regulations, and anything pro-business in general. At the same time, T is all for gay marriage, against the death penalty (though sometimes we'd both like to make an exception for people who harm children), and T believes that he's not entitled to an opinion that counts on the abortion issue until he grows a vagina and becomes hormonal every month. He's a fiscal conservative and a social liberal.

I, on the other hand, am not by any means a socialist but I think there are many ills in this world that those of us blessed with intelligence, good health, and plenty of material goods have an obligation to try to fix. I don't mind paying a little more in taxes if no child in this country goes hungry and everyone has affordable health care. That's where T and I differ. And maybe it seems like a small difference, but no single issue has caused more strife in our marriage than our fundamentally different views on the obligations of government and society. T is a good man. He's actually the best person I know and it may be corny, but he makes me want to be a better person. Knowing that, I find it incredibly frustrating that T continues to vote for Republicans. He could go either way, vote for either party. I mean, let's face it, the Republicans haven't exactly been tightening the fiscal belts lately. But T continues to vote for Republicans who share absolutely none of his core values on social issues. His voting record tells me that he values fiscal over social policy and that disturbs me.

I'm not looking for marriage counseling from the World Wide Web, but I've dragged all of this out because our political differences have become more of an issue since we had H&H. Before the kiddos came along, we could fight discuss an issue and then agree to disagree. Then I would just go quietly write a check to my favorite political candidate. (Shh! Don't tell!) But now I find myself wondering how I'm going to instill my values in our children without alienating my husband. And I worry even more than H&H will choose to follow their father's lead. I could get the kids a new bedtime story, but I'm afraid T would retaliate!

I know there is no easy solution to this problem. All I can do is lead by example, show my kids how fortunate they are, show them how the rest of the world lives, and show them what they can do to help. The rest I have to leave up to them and hope that I've taught them to make the right choices.