Cynical Nation

That's the index entry for this New York magazine piece about, well, having sex with Republicans. Who knew we could be so exotic?

Susannah, a 26-year-old activist, recently had her own guilty one-night stand with a Republican. They met at a loft party, sparks flew, and he mentioned that he had run for office. Since he is African-American, she assumed he was a Democrat. When he said, "Think again," she wrested herself away -- but gave him her e-mail.

A few nights later, after watching the vice-presidential debate separately (him alone, she with like-minded liberals), they went to the Gramercy Park Hotel roof. "We had a really stimulating conversation about politics," she recalls. "He seemed very reasonable, not a wacko." More than that, he was chivalrous. "Most of the guys I date are unemployed skaters. He bought all the drinks."

They went back to his pad and went right to bed. Instead of putting on Prince in the background, he put on Fox News. She says the sex was great, in part because of the forbidden aspect. "I was intrigued with the idea of sleeping with a Republican," she says. "It had the appeal of the exotic."

When she told her friends what she had done, one of them remarked, "How could you? In these times?" Now she has mixed feelings. "I don't think I'm going to go out and sleep with any more Republicans. I started thinking, I don't want a man like that in the White House. How could I want him in my bed?"