LISTEN. The worst thing we can do is not listen. People talk but we do not want to hear what they have to say. Listen to what the otherside is saying. Give them the benefit of the doubt and allow them to speak without you jumping down their throat after every word. They want to be treated with the same respect you want when you speak. Even if you disagree, listen anyways. When it is your turn, people will then listen to you. Listening is the first step to understanding.
SPEAK SOFTLY. Don't yell, lecture or get mad. Calmly relay your opinion to the otherside. If you talk down to them, they will be less likely to listen to what you have to say. Talk like an adult not an angry child. People do not like to be talked down to. Ask yourself, If someone talked like this to me, would I listen?
PROVIDE SOURCES. Your argument will carry much more weight if you have reliable sources to back up what you are saying. We know that not everyone can quote the exact page of a book at all times but be able to provide a general direction where a person can go to get more detail about the facts you provided. Making wild, outlandish statements weakens not only your argument but also your integrity. Who is going to listen to someone they think is crazy? If you can back up your idea with facts, more people will take it seriously and be willing to agree with it.
Don't label, use profanity, or name call. The easiestway to discount and ignore what anyone who you don't agree with says is to label them or call them "stupid." Many of the pundits use this tactic. In order to avoid listening, they tell people to "shut up" or say that they are "stupid", "crazy", "a crazy liberal" or "facist conservative." Once you label someone, you de-humanize them and rationalize to yourself why you do not have to listen or respect anything that they say. Its the surest way to avoid honest debate. Let's avoid this and get back to honest, intellectual debate.
Try to see where they are coming from. Whether or not you agree with what the person is saying is not important to this. Figure out why they feel the way they do and where they are coming from on this issue. You may not agree with them or their stance but look at it from their point of view. Politics is conflict resolution at its finest. Like resolving conflict anywhere else, helping to see where the other person is coming from allows for greater opporunity to reach a compromise that both parties can agree on.
ADMIT YOU ARE WRONG. We all hate to admit it but sometimes we are wrong. Admit when you are wrong. So you made a mistake about a fact or given new information, your opinion changed. It doesn't make you a flip-flopper, it doesn't mean you have a weak character- it means your intellectual and honest. We all make mistakes. Sometimes we are wrong. Sometimes things don't turn out the way you want them to. Instead of "staying the course", admit your wrong and change- It is a sign of wisdom and people will respect you more because of it.
Remember that at the end of the day, the otherside are people with the same feelings, needs, and desires you have! Don't de-humanize them by belittingly what they have to say. If no one talks to each other, no one learns from each other. Remember that they want a great country too. Work from that mutual starting point.