Been there, done that.
I've been branded as a traitor by family and friends. They think and have said when it comes to politics I am "out there". When I ask them on what they base that statement all they can provide is that I vote Republican, something I have done since I worked on President Reagan's first campaign.
The sad part is they are conservative and they know it. They hate high taxes, they disapprove of both abortion and homosexuality, they have religion and they beleive in a strong national defense. So why do they vote democRAT? Because the media tells them to. The media tells them being a Republican is a terrible thing. Basically, they are intellectual cowards who are too lazy to investigate and make a decisions based on fact. The democRAT party relies on that, without it, it would never get their vote.