Greetings, fellow academic. I feel your pain. Try working not only w/academics, but with Scandinavian (the heart of socialism) academics. Hoo boy! I get regularly treated to 'Bush is cutting funding for research.' Bush, Bush, Bush. Then they look at me as if I've just declined their grant proposal. : )
It is amazing that you can tolerate the irrationality of the left. I sometimes wonder if there isn't a genetic component to being a leftist. Anyone who has a rational mind and can view objective reality cannot accept many of the positions of the left. They would be laughable if there weren't so dangerous to young minds.