For those looking to convince their hard-headed friends and neighbors to come over to our side, here are some strategies I plan to employ:
Anyone else have any strategies? If so, please recommend.
- Give the new administration the chance that the other side never gave Trump.
- Highlight anything positive the new administration accomplishes or does, and if they don’t have positive accomplishments highlight their positive intentions.
- Empathize with the motives and intentions of the other side while pointing out common ground in desired outcomes.
- Stick as much as possible to provable facts, data, and outcomes in conversation, with plenty of common sense mixed in.
- Look to highlight inconsistencies between beliefs, policies, and outcomes, but never in a way that puts the other person on the defensive.
- Keep emotion out of the discussion except when using it logically to support an argument.
- Acknowledge things I’ve been wrong about.
- Call out Republican sins of the past.
- Call out the sins of Trump.
- Never, ever become what I don’t like about them.
I see a few people have chimed in on what I wrote here. Thank you all for your input.
For those that disagree with me, I get it. I have been wildly mistreated over the past few years as I'm sure a few others have. I would hardly call it a sacrifice. My great-great grandfather marched with Sherman - I doubt he'd call it that either.
I know there are many here who still hold out hope on The Plan. From my perspective, if we don't act like we are losing big, we will be in deep shit it if turns out we are. We cannot and should not count on any plans.
The only way this situation changes peacefully is if the other side sees the light, and steps in to defend us and the country. We can never win in a country that stays divided. To me that means sacrificing short term emotional satisfaction for a shot at the best long term gain possible. It means being the reasoned, level headed patriots that we are demanding they be.
One more thing that I didn't mention in my initial post - I'm also thinking of big ideas I can present that will facilitate the common ground I seek. I'm probably more left-leaning policy wise than most here, but here is an example:
- I am pro growth in government responsibility and control over our lives, but will never support an inch of said growth until the government shows that it's capable of what it's charged with now, capable of being trusted to work in our best interests, and capable of maintaining a sensible budget. We need them to be accountable for their actions, and we would be crazy to increase the scope of the government without demanding they are. -