Thursday Thoughts - Beware of Politics

I remember reading that Henry Fonda and Jimmy Stewart, who were the best of friends, got into a fist fight one day because they had begun discussing politics. Once the fight was over, they agreed to remain friends - but vowed never to discuss politics again.

I have friends and family at opposite ends of the political spectrum. And if you look at all of the voting figures from our most recent election, it's obvious that no one political ideology or party has a vast majority of followers. At best, you could easily make the statement that the country is almost evenly divided.

So are our fans.

Some of my books are considered political thrillers. In The China Conspiracy, for example, I delve into how easily our elections could be rigged through voting touch-screen technology. However, I make the dirty politician an Independent.

Why?

The reason is simple: if I had made the bad guy a Republican or a Democrat, I would have instantly lost half my fan base.

There is a reason why I never discuss religion or politics. It's been my experience that those who insist on talking about it are trying to persuade others to think exactly as they do. This works well as long as they're preaching to the proverbial choir. But when they find someone who thinks differently, it very quickly gets evil.

When someone is in the public eye, it becomes even more important to keep religion and politics to oneself. Not only can it lose friends but it can also lose fans. And is there any writer out there who can afford to lose one half of their readership?

Please visit me today at VBT Cafe, where I start my next blog tour - filled with interviews, guest blogs and more. And I won't be discussing politics!