family politics

So, here I am at my parent's house. Eric and I are watching the ball game, and I am making us some dinner. Some general chatter with my mom about school and work leads to a comment that I thought was pretty cool. I told my mom that my professor said I should go ahead and submit part of my paper on the Obama/Biden rally as a Letter to the Editor for our local paper, The State Journal Register. Aparently, I was wrong! The next thing my mom asked me was what it was going to say about Obama. I couldn't really get my thoughts out before she went on to say "because Nana and Grandpa read all of that . . ." So, because my grandparents are not for Obama, I can't articulately and eloquently express my thoughts in a published, public forum? Don't get me wrong, I love and respect my grandparents so much. But, I also think that they respect me and my viewpoints. So, it's happened again. I've let something someone else has said affect whether or not I should write something or express my feelings. This kind of makes me think that my mom doesn't respect my thoughts, at least not enough that I have to hide them from my other family members. I am a 23 year old woman. When am I going to be able to have my own established thoughts? Or more importantly, when will they be respected by my parents? I love them so much, but just wish that I felt like they respected my thoughts. My grandparents have read different things that I have written, seen my plays performed. They know my controversial tone and style. Would they really be upset to see a Letter to the Editor from their grand-daughter about how she was impressed by the kindess of the crowd around her? I wonder.