Sciencegeek:

Not intending to disrespect your profession nor training, but from your statements, what you may be experiencing, related to Pete, is a perceptual set (top down processing) related to your job training and experience?

In top-down processing, perceptions of others begin with the most general and move toward the more specific (aka pete) - If we expect someone whose views we strongly disagree with to behave in a certain way in life, regardless of the reliability of the information set, we are more likely to perceive that person in a negative way, related to a prior learned ecpectation pattern. Sometimes, we don't see the error in applying such patterns, with such limited information to draw from.