Meet five red/blue couples whose plight mirrors America’s: divided by politics, wedded to a shared future. But unlike red/blue politicians, purple couples realize they can’t wriggle out of this bind. When they square off, sparks fly. They stick by their guns (sometimes literally), but they move forward, together.

Purple couples know that America would be better off if we bound red to blue. Then politicians couldn’t just preach to their base. They’d have to engage the opposition openly, sometimes playfully, always passionately, and ever mindful of the fate of the Union. Paul Ryan and Nancy Pelosi may never end up in bed together, but what if they had to observe the rules these couples live by?

What are those rules? In Connecticut, Iowa, Pennsylvania, Texas, and New York, five couples turned on a camera to show us. Take a peek at the purple couples playbook...