I've gotten on pretty well with some conservative folks.

[ulysses]

A lot of them, in fact. There are my in-laws, who like me but who've given up on trying to talk politics with me for the most part. :) Then there are the friends I made some years ago in IT, who ranged from moderate to libertarian to strong conservatives but who were all well read and willing to have intelligent discussions. There are others.

I like these folks, despite what I consider their political failings (and, in the case of some, their personal/human failings), but I'm not especially interested in moderating the expression of my own views in order to try to bring them to my political side. It seems obvious to me that this is a fool's game that will only result in the diminishment of my own values and goals, at least as long as we are faced by an opponent who has no interest whatsoever in true compromise.

[Wonk]

1. "well read and willing to have intelligent discussions"

That's the key, imho.

Many "conservatives", I've noticed, label themselves that as an easy way to help rationalize their narrow mindedness and/or the fact that they drank the corporate fascist kool-aid and allowed themselves to stop thinking after that.

[ulysses]

2. hey, Wonk!

Most of these folks actually were pretty well informed, much as they erred in their analysis of what they read. ;-)