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A few weeks ago, I wrote here about Mickey’s Camp, an annual event created by IBJ co-owner Mickey Maurer for business and community leaders that takes place each year at Bradford Woods in Morgan County.
Both the men’s and women’s camps took place last week, and I moderated sessions at each about politics. As they do every year, two women from Las Vegas who come to Mickey’s Camp to teach poker attended each one.
What’s fascinating about these women is that when they first started coming to the politics sessions six or so years ago, they had only a passing interest in the topic. They voted, but they didn’t pay a lot of attention to the machinations of campaigns or watch cable news or political shows.
But they wanted to know more, and they saw Mickey’s Camp as an opportunity to learn a little something in a relatively safe environment—something that can be tough to find when you’re talking politics.
Over the years, as Nevada has become a bigger play on the national political scene, these ladies’ interest in politics has grown tremendously. They are now regular cable news watchers.
Where they once mostly listened during our sessions, they are now regular contributors, both when the discussion is among men and among other women.
That has been a fun transition to watch, even if I get a glimpse of it only once a year.
But what makes it even more interesting is that even as they’ve honed their own opinions about political issues and candidates, they’ve become even more curious about what others think.
These poker players are left leaning. They generally vote for Democrats. And they wouldn’t be upset that I’m writing that here. They are open about their thoughts and opinions at Mickey’s Camp.
But unlike many people who get easily stuck in a sort of political loop—only consuming news or social media they already agree with—these women love to hear the opposite side of an issue. They watch MSNBC, but they also turn on Fox. They want our Mickey’s Camp sessions to be robust discussions representing all points of view.
In fact, this year, one of our women’s sessions had only a handful of people—and all of them came from one side of the aisle. The poker ladies were among them. As a result, the session became in part a discussion about why the other side could possibly believe what they believe—with me playing devil’s advocate and challenging the attendees assumptions, with the goal of generating a deeper discussion.
One of the poker ladies pulled me aside later and confided that as much as she agreed with political stances espoused by the others in the session, she just didn’t enjoy the conversation that much. Instead, she told me how much she had appreciated the hour before, when we’d had about 15 women representing the full political spectrum debating issues and candidates and the media’s role in politics.
I think these Vegas women have the right idea.
Listening to the reasons that someone holds a divergent view can be enlightening. It can engender empathy and help build bridges across the political divide. And it can even help you sharpen your own arguments to back up what you believe.
So the next time you get into a political debate, invite in someone with the opposite view—and then listen, consider the arguments and discuss with empathy. It could be a much better conversation.•
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Weidenbener is editor of IBJ. Email her at lweidenbener@ibj.com.
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Well said!!!