While I can appreciate your position, as extra angst and stress is no good for anyone, I just couldn't ever bring myself to do it. I believe it is why we had people like Clinton and Trump even be in a position as our only choices. People with real jobs and responsibilities, not based upon greasing the wheels of the political machine, have given up on the process because it is either too painful, troublesome, or stressful. This leaves those who profit off of a lack of involvement by decent hard working people to control the show.
This isn't directed at you, but I have attempted in my personal life to get people more willing to debate ideas. Whether they share my views or not, their views are valid and I have worked hard to try and ensure that when we have discussions, I try to recognize that disagreement is vital for a healthy democracy. One thing I have done lately is begin prefacing any discussions I have with people on some underlying facts and whether they see them as facts or whether they see some "alternative fact" as being the ultimate truth. Debating with someone based upon fundamental differences is the surest way to devolve a discussion into an argument, and if we can't come to some basis of common ground there is no point to even starting. I find myself saying "I think we will just have to agree to disagree" an awful lot lately.
