Political pushover.

The Sorensen Institute, after just two sessions, has made me into a bipartisan pushover.

In just two weekends — a month ago and this past weekend — I have been trained to trust Democrats and Republicans alike, to think of Virginia and not of Virginia Democrats, and to have frank discussions with Republicans and Democrats about the strengths and weaknesses of the Democratic Party and myself as a Democrat.

This is a dangerous thing. At Sorensen, it’s a premise that we can all be completely honest with one another, and know that what we say won’t leave the room. This is not so in the rest of the world. Despite knowing this, I find myself being far more frank with Republicans on the topic of partisan political matters than perhaps I should be. On the other hand, I’m yet to get burned, so perhaps this isn’t a liability after all?

Time will tell. Learning not to trust is a terrible lesson — perhaps it won’t happen.