what i perceive vs. real truth

I would like to try to relate my thoughts to Plato's Allegory of the Cave. Let's see how I do...
i guess what brings this on is my relalization of how ones surroundings truly affect their perception of reality. for instance, i live in a highly democratic city. i mean, lets just for arguments sake say everyone is chicago voted for kerry (which obviously isn't true.) it seemed to me that most everyone hated mr. bush and his conservative policies. not to mention most of my friends inside and out of the city disliked bush enough to join the club know as "kerry haters for kerry." obviously that skewed my perspective because not everyone felt that way, i mean bush won, right?
ok, so this might be a lame example, but it just got me to thinkin' this morning about how much our surroundings effect our perceptions of life.
here's hoping that during the next four years democrats and repulicans can find some common ground to make change for good.
signing off.