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At least there is one thing we can all agree on, whether we are politically red, blue or purple.

Americans don’t see eye-to-eye on politics, so why should it be any different when it comes to the brands we admire?

Democrats and Republicans, as it turns out, see the world very differently in terms of brand perception, and the outlook is different still for independents.

Democrats seem to love Google, for example, while the Internet search company fails to even break the top 10 list of Republicans' favorite brands, according to an annual ranking released Wednesday by YouGov Brand Index, a consumer research firm. 

Republicans and independents both have a high opinion of the History Channel and Discovery Channel -- brands that are just not top of mind for Democrats.

“Politics in the U.S. have become very personality-focused and we view brands as having a personality,” said June Cotte, associate professor of marketing at Western University in Canada said.

“If a brand is seen as young and hip it may be more associated with (President Barack) Obama, who is seen as young and hip compared to (former Gov. Mitt) Romney,” Cotte said.

News events also can have an impact.

Chick-fil-A President Dan Cathy, for example, stirred up both criticism and support with his controversial comments against same-sex marriage. But those comments drove Chick-fil-A onto the top 10 list of well-perceived brands among Republicans for the first time. (The fast-food chain did not make the list among Democrats or independents.)

Some brands also got a bounce after the two political conventions this year.

The Democrats used the slogan “Osama Bin Laden is dead, General Motors is alive” during their convention, leading to a big bounce in perception for GM among Dems. Staples founder Thomas Stemberg stumped for Mitt Romney at the Republican’s convention, which helped garner the office supply chain a boost in ratings among Republicans.

As for M&M’s, perhaps they started packing more blue candies than red into their iconic mix of candy-coated chocolates. The popular candies made their debut on the top 10 list for both Democrats and independents this year, while melting off the Republicans’ top 10.

One brand that everyone seems to agree on is Cheerio's, which ranks in the top 10 for every political affiliation.

Ted Marzilli, managing director for YouGov’s BrandIndex, said several brands, including Fox News, PBS and Chick-fil-A, have a particularly polarizing effect.

While Fox News ranks as the No. 1 brand among Republicans, it ranks behind 1,084 other brands among Democrats.

Similarly Chick-fil-A ranked No. 4 among Republicans and No. 1,076 among Democrats.

And Romney seems to have chosen wisely in targeting PBS, which is ranked as the No. 9 brand among Democrats. Big Bird and friends rank as the No. 159 brand among Republicans. 

Here is the top 10 list for all three categories of voters:

Democrats:

1. Google
2. Amazon.com
3. Cheerios
4. Clorox
5. Craftsman
6. Dawn
7. M&Ms
8. Levi’s
9. PBS
10. Sony

Republicans:

1. Fox News Channel
2. History Channel
3. Craftsman
4. Chick-Fil-A
5. Johnson & Johnson
6. Lowe’s
7. Cheerios
8. Clorox
9. Fox
10. Discovery Channel

Independents:

1. Amazon.com
2. Craftsman
3. History Channel
4. Discovery Channel
5. Google
6. Clorox
7. Lowe’s
8. Johnson & Johnson
9. Cheerios
10. M&Ms

Dana Macario is a Seattle-area writer, who likes Cheerios, especially the Honey Nut ones.

Republican presidential candidate Mitt Romney is facing a barrage of criticism by implying that nearly half of all Americans "pay no income tax" and would vote for President Barack Obama because they are dependent on government handouts.

Romney was secretly recorded at a closed-door private fundraiser in Florida in May as saying: "There are 47 percent of the people who will vote for the president no matter what. All right, there are 47 percent who are with him, who are dependent upon government, who believe that they are victims, who believe the government has a responsibility to care for them, who believe that they are entitled to health care, to food, to housing, to you name it. That that's an entitlement. And the government should give it to them. And they will vote for this president no matter what."

Watch the secretly-taped video.

Pieces of the comments were first released by Mother Jones on Monday.

Just who are the 47 percent?

Romney may have been referencing the nearly half of all Americans (actually 46 percent as of 2011) who pay no federal income taxes.

The Tax Policy Center, a project of the Brookings Institution and the Urban Institute, released a detailed analysis of the group in July 2011, which NBC News.com covered in a very popular Life Inc. post.

The Tax Policy Center researchers found that about half of the group is basically exempt from federal income taxes because they are low income and also may have a large family.

In a blog released not long after its report, the TPC explained that "a couple with two children earning less than $26,400 will pay no federal income tax this year because their $11,600 standard deduction and four exemptions of $3,700 each reduce their taxable income to zero."

The other half are zeroing out their federal income tax bill with other provisions, such as itemized deductions or the child tax credit. Some are seniors who are living off Social Security.

To be clear, the people in this group are still paying taxes. They are subject to payroll taxes for things like Medicare and Social Security, federal excise taxes on things like gasoline and state and local taxes including sales taxes on items they purchase.

Not everyone who pays no federal income tax is in the lower income brackets. A separate report released last spring by the Internal Revenue Service found more than 35,000 people who made more than $200,000 in 2009 also managed to zero out their tax bills. That report noted that it generally takes a number of different credits and deductions for wealthy people to not pay any federal income taxes.

Related: Romney: Secretly recorded remarks 'not elegantly stated'