@jerwin’s comment above reminds me of someone who was adept at doing it: Bill Clinton. For all the mockery of his chewing his lip and saying “I feel your pain,” he really had the touch when it came to connecting with people, liberal and conservative, on that emotional and instinctual level. At the same time, he was obviously very intelligent, educated and wonky on the issues. Obama had that combination as well, although its effect was diluted by racism.
Absolutely. Last year my buddy and I were doing our annual road trip and passed through what we knew to be a conservative area of the state we were in. We decided to stop into a pawn shop, the kind that’s really a gun shop, and look around. The owners recognised us for the liberal city boys we were and tried to bait us a little about our presumed fear of firearms. We didn’t rise to the political “de-bait”. Instead, we engaged them in the friendly and non-confrontational way you describe, showing interest in and discussing the weapons. They were a little surprised to see that not only were we not frightened of the weapons but that (for various reasons) a geeky liberal like myself knew quite a bit about them. It was a nice, easy-going conversation that didn’t touch on politics but may have done a little to change their assumptions about urban liberals who support gun control.
