This is my first presidential election in the workforce. I'm surprised by how freely the political discussion flows in my office considering I work for the local government. My views differ greatly from almost all of my coworkers so I tend to keep my mouth shut and avoid these conversations.

It, too, is my first election while at a full time job, and I'm shocked at the amount of free-for-all discussion goes on. I've always been of the thought that politics during work is unprofessional. I still stand by that, and do not talk about it with any coworkers. I think it has the possibility of interfering with productivity, especially when groups that are divided feel as if they are now in a face off.

We talk about politics alot here too! Thanks GOD though that my boss is voting for the same candidate that I'm voting for. Yesterday we actually had a lunch meeting and towards the end the convo ended up being about politics and the VP debate that happened last night.

I try not to give my opinion, but everyone around me always talks about hard-core politics at the office.

We talk a little, but we keep to the people who have the same opinions, because it just gets to nasty otherwise. I had a boss that left us in July and she was just off the charts on the opposite side and didn't care or take into consideration that other people might have other opinions, it just didn't matter to her and it was awful because I'm not about to start arguing with my boss!

I work in politics, so it's impossible not to talk politics here. At my second job, I try to stay away from it. I feel that I probably disagree with most of my coworkers and, while I don't typically back down from political disagreements, I feel that work is not the proper place for it. But, I think it varies from workplace to workplace.

Well, in my department we all have generally the same political views so we chat about it pretty openly. I think we all make an effort to not get too worked up though.

I wish my co-workers would stop talking politics, because their version just idle, ignorant chatter that makes me crank up my headphones. (Harsh? Sure. I think they could save it for lunch, or at least talk about the issues in some kind of educated way, preferably out of earshot.)

I've worked in two industries that are hot political topics (health care and now environmental), so it's never been an issue talking about politics at work. In fact, it's pretty much the standard.

The news is always on the TV at work, so yeah... we all talk about the headlines. It doesn't usually get too heated.

Recently, it's been a hot topic at work, but I tend to stay out of it. The majority of people at work have completely opposite view than me, and it's hard for me to keep my mouth shut when they're spouting off dribble and lies, but it's better that I just email the office manager to b*tch about it, since we're the only two Democrats in the office.

I think it's fine as long as you don't get too aggressive or judgmental with coworkers who disagree with you.

I just have a problem with people assuming that everyone around them has the same political views. If one more person assumes I love oblahma (intentional)I might freak out. And then I get beat up when after forced into a conversation with a direct question, I mention that I am a third party voter. I am either trying to get some work done or enjoying a 5 minute break so I really dont want to have the "you are throwing your vote away" conversation with the 500th person. I try to avoid political talk at work because people get too defensive when you dont agree with them.

i think that we've certainly come a long way in what we can do at work and what we can talk about at work. i feel like it's more acceptable these days to talk politics, however i've found that my coworkers really don't know anything about what's going on and the issues, so i don't have anyone to talk to about it.

I try to avoid political conversations at work, but it's kind of hard especially with the election being both so close as well as both living and working in the Nations capital. I don't assume ones political leanings and I don't judge when I find out what a persons leanings are. But, I can see others being heated and possibly hindering the mission of the office, based solely on a persons political leanings. Now if a co-worker were to see me at some Rally on the weekends or see me out shopping, that's a totally different thing

It's really hard to say. We definitely do seem to talk about it a lot here, but it's one-sided... we all seem to support the same candidate.

It's interesting, because people seem to get most upset about presidential elections, so I don't generally bring that up, but it seems like who gets elected to city council or if the new alcohol law should pass are more benign topics. I wonder why.

TS, I think politics at the local level just seems less partisan--it tends to be less about the "big picture" partisan identity politics stuff and more about specifics. And it's the partisan politics that get people all riled up.

I honestly only talk to coworkers who share my views. That isn't because I believe people with different opinions are wrong, I just don't want to create conflict, and I especially don't want to do so at work.