I totally understand why you'd take that approach. I'd probably do the same thing, because obviously, you can't let a political disagreement interfere with work. However, I think this sort of conundrum is a bad thing. It keeps us dumber - not you personally but society in general. Furthermore, it also makes us more entrenched in our views, so we're dumber but more sure of ourselves. That's a toxic combination.
You should be able to ask her to specify what about Trump bugs her and kindly and respectfully make her defend her position. If she says, "he's a racist," you should be able to ask her what "racism" means, why it means what she says it means, and what policies he has advocated that conform to her definition. And of course, she should be able to do the reverse to you. However, I think Dion is correct. Her liberalism probably extends beyond her policy preferences and is part of her cultural identity. That means a disagreement with her politics is going to feel like a personal attack on her when it isn't.
It reminds me of when I met that former Clinton intern when I was about 21. She was liberal but very smart and intellectually honest. I found that attractive in her, even though her appearance wasn't my style. (She wasn't ugly, but she was bony thin (kinda felt like I was dating Olive Oyl) and had curly hair, neither of which are my preference.) We got along well enough to date seriously, and we kept talking politics during that time. It never got ugly or personal, and sometimes she would flip on a position if I gave her strong enough of a case (affirmative action and vouchers come to mind). She was truly an open-minded liberal. She never got me to flip on anything, but she did make me consider things more carefully and with greater nuance.
However, this was in the late '90s, and a lot has changed since then. Rabid partisanship and cultural tribalism didn't dominate. Social media wasn't putting us in echo chambers in which we never hear the other side of anything. And of course, we didn't spend our whole lives staring at our phones back then, because smart phones didn't exist. We led real lives in which we interacted with people in person. It's a lot easier to tell somebody that he's a friggin' retard when you're in the comments section on a news story than when he's standing right in front of you.
-
Like x 2
Last edited: Apr 24, 2018