# Is there an online board/forum where reasonable, intelligent debate occurs between Reps and Dems? **URL:** \ **Category:** Politics & Elections\ **Created:** [September 20, 2019, 1:11pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-there-an-online-board-forum-where-reasonable-intelligent-debate-occurs-between-reps-and-dems/840558 "2019-09-20T13:11:55Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 13\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![HurricaneDitka](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/96bed5/32.png) [@HurricaneDitka](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/HurricaneDitka)\ **Post date:** [September 21, 2019, 7:48pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-there-an-online-board-forum-where-reasonable-intelligent-debate-occurs-between-reps-and-dems/840558/21 "2019-09-21T19:48:39Z")
> [@Velocity](#): > > Honestly - and not to be snarky - the Straight Dope …t is already as civil as you can expect D’s and R’s to possibly get in today’s toxic era. That’s disheartening, because this place isn’t particularly civil. > [@Max\_S](#): > > I believe **HurricaneDitka** supports President Trump. He will not follow you into the pit, however. > > ~Max Correct on both counts. Perhaps I’d add the caveat that I’m _generally_ supportive of President Trump. > [@Euphonious\_Polemic](#): > > Conservatives are free to post on this board anywhere outside the BBQ pit, so they should be free from insults. … What should be and what is are often two very different things. ---
**Author:** ![Bone](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bone/32/407_2.png) [@Bone](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Bone)\ **Post date:** [September 21, 2019, 8:04pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-there-an-online-board-forum-where-reasonable-intelligent-debate-occurs-between-reps-and-dems/840558/22 "2019-09-21T20:04:01Z")
> [@Budget\_Player\_Cadet](#): > > Indeed - HurricaneDitka is an excellent example of a relatively intelligent, eloquent, rational Trump supporter. > > Take from that what you will. I take it that you are being less than sincere and you should avoid backhanded compliments made for the purpose of being insulting in this forum. [/moderating] ---
**Author:** ![DSeid](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/dseid/32/20194_2.png) [@DSeid](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DSeid)\ **Post date:** [September 21, 2019, 8:06pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-there-an-online-board-forum-where-reasonable-intelligent-debate-occurs-between-reps-and-dems/840558/23 "2019-09-21T20:06:21Z")
Bigger issue is that the real world also has few places in which civil discourse between those on each side takes place. This place is the worst around for it … yeah you see this coming… except for all the others. Reality is that it tends to be some of (not all of) the more highly educated who want to have that civil intelligent discussion with effort made to understand why the other believes what they do. And that more highly educated group has a liberal and Democratic bias. There are fewer intellectual conservatives than in days past and fewer of them who are in the Trump camp even if they vote for him for the sake of their agenda. Overwhelmingly (but not completely) Trump supporters are of lower educational levels and with an anti-intellectual bent. Liberals here benefit from having conservative voices speaking here. But that does not equal a free pass for a conservative to pass off crap as argument and whine that posters were mean when called on it. ---
**Author:** ![Gatopescado](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/gatopescado/32/5711_2.png) [@Gatopescado](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Gatopescado)\ **Post date:** [September 21, 2019, 9:10pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-there-an-online-board-forum-where-reasonable-intelligent-debate-occurs-between-reps-and-dems/840558/24 "2019-09-21T21:10:23Z")
> [@Czarcasm](#): > > Have you ever said which candidate you _do_ support? Republican Trump-hater, here. The last go-round, I would have been happy with Jon Huntsman or Romney. This coming election? I’m not going to bother. Where I live my vote has be rendered moot, so I’ll find something useful to do that afternoon, like take the dogs for a Jeep ride or drink beer. Although I always drink beer when taking a Jeep ride anyway. 😉 ---
**Author:** ![octopus](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/octopus/32/3716_2.png) [@octopus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/octopus)\ **Post date:** [September 21, 2019, 10:07pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-there-an-online-board-forum-where-reasonable-intelligent-debate-occurs-between-reps-and-dems/840558/25 "2019-09-21T22:07:36Z")
I vote republican 99.6% of the time and if people from other viewpoints discuss an issue civilly I usually have no problem with that. Most democratic voters I know actually mean well which is ironic. Now, if it’s a strong single issue voter like abortion or gun rights I don’t always agree but I can respect their positions. I do have a problem with dishonest and pandering politicians. Unfortunately, that may be a completely redundant statement. So, in practice I have to pick what I think is less harmful in the long term. And that is far from obvious in the present due to 2nd and 3rd order effects. ---
**Author:** ![Hypnagogic\_Jerk](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/hypnagogic_jerk/32/4252_2.png) [@Hypnagogic\_Jerk](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Hypnagogic_Jerk)\ **Post date:** [September 21, 2019, 10:28pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-there-an-online-board-forum-where-reasonable-intelligent-debate-occurs-between-reps-and-dems/840558/26 "2019-09-21T22:28:41Z")
> [@KidCharlemagne](#): > > Just took a look, and their mission statement is definitely noble. I really wish Reddit had a damn topic directory. How the fuck am I supposed to find that? I know there is an “is there a subreddit for that?” subreddit, but some of the design choices on Reddit absolutely boggle my mind. I don’t follow /r/TheMotte, but I know it used to be the Slate Star Codex subreddit, and I read the [Slate Star Codex](https://slatestarcodex.com/) blog. You get a lot of interesting political discussion over there, especially in the open threads which frequently go over a thousand posts. The blogger is rather left-wing, but of a somewhat libertarian flavour of left-wing, so the comment section has attracted quite a few right-wing posters who appreciate their views being tolerated. There is a variety of right-wing voices, from anarcho-capitalists to conservative catholics and I’m sure a few Trump supporters, as well as a variety of left-wing voices, and there is (usually) a real attempt made over there to debate rationally. It is much less of an echo chamber than the SDMB, so more interesting in this regard. Negatives are that it’s not a message board or a subreddit, but just a comment section, so finding debate threads can be difficult. As I’ve said, the open threads go over a thousand posts, so it can be difficult to find what has been discussed. I usually just search for words in the threads, but maybe there’s a better way I don’t know about. Rules are [here](https://slatestarcodex.com/comments/), but there is also a rule that “culture war” issues are only to be discussed in some but not all of the open threads (I forget which ones, and it’s not mentioned there). ---
**Author:** ![Euphonious\_Polemic](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/euphonious_polemic/32/3002_2.png) [@Euphonious\_Polemic](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Euphonious_Polemic)\ **Post date:** [September 21, 2019, 10:42pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-there-an-online-board-forum-where-reasonable-intelligent-debate-occurs-between-reps-and-dems/840558/27 "2019-09-21T22:42:13Z")
> [@HurricaneDitka](#): > > What should be and what is are often two very different things. And yet, in an interesting twist of irony, someone was warned moments ago for being insulting to you. So… It would seem that your rights are being well protected here, and you should feel free to speak your mind. ---
**Author:** ![HurricaneDitka](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/96bed5/32.png) [@HurricaneDitka](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/HurricaneDitka)\ **Post date:** [September 21, 2019, 11:52pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-there-an-online-board-forum-where-reasonable-intelligent-debate-occurs-between-reps-and-dems/840558/28 "2019-09-21T23:52:51Z")
> [@Euphonious\_Polemic](#): > > And yet, in an interesting twist of irony, someone was warned moments ago for being insulting to you. > > So… It would seem that your rights are being well protected here, and you should feel free to speak your mind. You see that as the irony here? I see the ironic bit as you skipping over the insult right here in this very thread in the Elections forum, to declare that conservatives “should be free from insults”. ---
**Author:** ![DSeid](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/dseid/32/20194_2.png) [@DSeid](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DSeid)\ **Post date:** [September 22, 2019, 1:57am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-there-an-online-board-forum-where-reasonable-intelligent-debate-occurs-between-reps-and-dems/840558/29 "2019-09-22T01:57:46Z")
Meh. Liberals aren’t free of insults either. Poor arguments habitually made are mocked no matter if the position is agreed with or disagreed with. There are some dumb arguments made in defense of positions I agree with. And all are moderated to keep some reasonable range of civility as the norm. That equal opportunity mocking and moderation when it crosses the line is the best one can hope for I think. ---
**Author:** ![dalej42](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/67e7ee/32.png) [@dalej42](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/dalej42)\ **Post date:** [September 22, 2019, 2:42am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-there-an-online-board-forum-where-reasonable-intelligent-debate-occurs-between-reps-and-dems/840558/30 "2019-09-22T02:42:02Z")
> [@KidCharlemagne](#): > > What made you join a website that requires $5 a month to even see what it is? Not being snarky, I just find the concept incredibly unusual. I’d check your browser settings. The website was always available free from my former work where I never logged in. They do have a few premium articles but 96% of the site is free. ---
**Author:** ![Heffalump\_and\_Roo](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/heffalump_and_roo/32/7691_2.png) [@Heffalump\_and\_Roo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Heffalump_and_Roo)\ **Post date:** [September 22, 2019, 5:29am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-there-an-online-board-forum-where-reasonable-intelligent-debate-occurs-between-reps-and-dems/840558/31 "2019-09-22T05:29:20Z")
> [@Wesley\_Clark](#): > > This board really isn’t it though. We don’t have many conservatives, and the ones we do have get insulted a lot. For the most part on this board discussions with conservatives end up with liberals talking about what we think conservatives believe. Exactly. Which is why I wondered about your thread on asking about why non-college educated whites don’t turn from Trump. That seemed a little like spitting in the wind or at least asking the wind. There are a lot of Trump supporters on the Yang sub, but they’re given respect for the most part, so their answers are a lot more forthcoming there. > [@Wesley\_Clark](#): > > Closest I’ve found are r/politicaldiscussion and r/ask\_politics on reddit. r/neutralpolitics too I like r/neutralpolitics because every fact requires a link and no anecdotal evidence is allowed. The downside is that a lot of politics is not that easily provable so the topic selection isn’t that broad. I like these 2 rules there and wish there were more places that had at least a variant of these rules. People saying, “everyone knows X” (supposed “common knowledge”) is such a non-starter for any discussion. > [@](#): > > 1. Source your facts. If you’re claiming something to be true, you need to back it up by linking to a qualified source. There is no “common knowledge” exception, and anecdotal evidence is not allowed. > > 2. Be substantive. NeutralPolitics is a serious discussion-based subreddit. We do not allow bare expressions of opinion, low effort one-liner comments, jokes, memes, off topic replies, or pejorative name calling. ---
**Author:** ![KidCharlemagne](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/ed8c4c/32.png) [@KidCharlemagne](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/KidCharlemagne)\ **Post date:** [September 22, 2019, 11:56am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-there-an-online-board-forum-where-reasonable-intelligent-debate-occurs-between-reps-and-dems/840558/32 "2019-09-22T11:56:00Z")
> [@dalej42](#): > > I’d check your browser settings. The website was always available free from my former work where I never logged in. They do have a few premium articles but 96% of the site is free. Oh I see, you’re referring to the comments section of the blog articles. I hadn’t seen that, because I thought there was a message board, couldn’t find one, and then assumed it was behind the paywall. ---
**Author:** ![Velocity](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/velocity/32/18006_2.png) [@Velocity](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Velocity)\ **Post date:** [September 22, 2019, 4:13pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-there-an-online-board-forum-where-reasonable-intelligent-debate-occurs-between-reps-and-dems/840558/33 "2019-09-22T16:13:24Z")
Nowadays in the Trump era, liberals and conservatives are like sodium and water. If you drop a chunk of sodium in water, it goes ka-pow. If you gently immerse it, it might ka-pow more gently. So the best you can hope for is a message board where the sodium goes in slowly. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-there-an-online-board-forum-where-reasonable-intelligent-debate-occurs-between-reps-and-dems/840558.md?page=1)