Standing nearby some polling locations in Champaign County on Election Day, people stood holding signs with messages about bridging the partisan divide.
Carol Bosley and Steve Briggs, members of the Braver Angels East Central Illinois Alliance, stood about 100 feet away from the Brookens Administration in Urbana on Tuesday morning with a sign that read: “We’re red and blue voters committed to holding America together.”
The two are with the nonprofit Braver Angels. The national organization is working to ease the tension caused by political polarization, which Briggs, who leans red, said has similarities to marital conflict.
“The founder of Braver Angels was a marriage counselor, and he spoke of American political polarization as a marriage,” Briggs said. “And he said a lot of the same techniques [can help], getting people to talk about things and just realize that we may disagree, but we’re not enemies, we’re still friends.”
Briggs said the Braver Angels message is simple yet powerful: No matter how you vote, voters can — and must — get along.
Carol Bosley, who leans blue, said many join Braver Angels because they’re worried about the country being so divided. She said keeping your beliefs is important, but so is working with others to come together.
“We’re here because we want to show the community that even though we vote differently we still are together as far as working to make the country as good as it can be,” Bosley said.
Political polarization has always been part of American politics, but not enough effort has been made to ease that tension, said Chuck Stone, a blue-leaning state coordinator for Illinois at Braver Angels, who spoke with IPM News in September.
“Everyone agrees that [polarization] is a destructive force and it’s sort of corrupting our politics but we are not talking as a problem to be solved,” he said.
Local chapters of Braver Angels host workshops that provide opportunities for people to actively listen to those they disagree with. Stone said people are often surprised to discover similarities – and common ground – with their conversation partners.
“A part of everyone’s education should be: How to talk to people who disagree with you,” he added. “I think that is sorely needed and it’s a skill that we need, to make sure our system of government works.”