Reason not Bluster

Here is another tip that can help you help John McCain’s Blog Outreach Initiative.

Often times when posting on the blogosphere about John McCain, you’ll come across an argumentative liberal. This argumentative liberal fellow may write something like:

“I am not voting for McCain because he is in favor of X, Y, and Z. And this is wrong.”

Instead of rebutting this argument by stating that being in favor of X, Y, and Z is a responsible position, and that you are wrong argumentative fellow, challenge this commenter instead. Try this:

“So I understand that you are not in favor of X, Y, and Z. Could you tell me just why being in favor of X, Y and Z is bad, I’d like to know. Maybe I’ve not thought about the issue from your perspective.”

This will cause the argumentative liberal to stop, consider his rationale, and reduce his reasoning to writing which he may or may not be able to do effectively. This gives you another opportunity for follow-up questions and engage in dialog. This open mindedness demonstrates that you are a reasonable person and while you may not be able to change this argumentative liberal’s mind, you can always end the dialog by agreeing to disagree.

And who knows, you may reach “a lurker”** and change his mind or make this lurker more receptive to your arguments next time. Good Luck.

**Ed. Note: A Lurker is a reader of the commentary on a Blog who does participate by posting comments. Lurkers are often more open to reason because they are, by definition, consumers of information rather than producers.

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Tags: Blogosphere