In a way, I regard you as family. My mother's parents also belonged to a party which advocated shrinking the government -- in fact, was dedicated to shrinking it farther than the Libertarian Party has ever promised. One difference from the Republican Party: the Communist Party USA has never had the chance to advance the withering away of the State. (It's true that no Communist government has ever gotten very far toward that goal. Nor has the Republican Party managed to reduce government. But we all fall a bit short of our ideals.)
More seriously: If you're here to change minds, and you know how difficult it's likely to be, you deserve respect. If you think it's going to be easy, you're in for a learning experience.
I have some advice for you. It's unlikely to make you fully successful, but will improve the odds.
- Never mind what conservative experts say liberals are like. Observe for yourself.
Many of these experts know as much about their subject as George McGovern does about running a successful Presidential campaign.
- Use our language. A few years ago, I got a flyer for a Republican candidate which said he was supported not only by Republicans but by independents and members of the Democrat Party. It's the Democratic Party -- except that here in Minnesota, it's the DFL. If no one on his campaign committee knew this, he couldn't be worth voting for.
- Don't pretend to be something you aren't. If you expected to vote Republican, don't try to sound like a disappointed Clinton supporter.
- If you've been provided with a list of talking points, trash that list. We've already been exposed to them, and they haven't convinced us.
- This is the hard one: respect the people you're trying to reach.