TRAVERSE CITY, Mich. (Michigan News Source) – The Braver Angels organization has been holding bipartisan workshops since 2016 in an effort to bridge the partisan gap between Republicans and Democrats. They work in communities, on college campuses, in the media and in the halls of political power to unite the country.

Their website talks about their beginnings when they gathered 10 Trump supporters and 11 Clinton supporters in South Lebanon, Ohio to meet together in their first Red/ Blue Workshop.

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The organization wanted to see if Americans could still disagree respectfully and find common ground. The answer was yes and yes. But the participants had to be quiet enough to hear each other’s stories. The participants were black and white, Christian and Muslim, male and female. By getting together this way, they were able to see people, not stereotypes. They saw neighbors, not enemies, in a country they all shared.

To date, the Braver Angels have conducted approximately 10,000 of these workshops nationwide. Fast forward to 2022 when the organization was looking for a venue for another Red/Blue Workshop after being contacted by CBS about featuring them on one of their shows.

The Traverse City’s Ticker reports that one of the Braver Angels members was visiting family in Traverse City and called up the Michigan team to ask, “Any chance you guys can pull something together in two weeks?”

The workshop came together on August 13th at the Unitarian Universalist Church in Traverse City with eight Democrats and six Republicans and an audience of 25 observers.

The workshop, as they always do, began with the moderators establishing ground rules and then splitting people up into groups with fellow “reds” and “blues” in a stereotype exercise where they are asked to identify what they see as “the most common false stereotypes or misconceptions of their side, why these stereotypes are wrong, what is
true instead and whether there is a kernel of truth in the stereotype.”

After that, they separated into red/blue pairs and talked about what they learned about how they see each other.
Then there was a “fishbowl” exercise that brought the group back together and they talked about why their party’s policies are good for the country and discussed their concerns about the other party’s values. The other side is instructed to observe and learn only.

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Then the reds and blues ask questions of each other and talk about what can be done to search for common ground and understanding between the political parties.

Mike Radke, who coordinates Michigan programming for Braver Angels, said there were two or three issues that everyone agreed upon including that there is a “serious problem with money in politics and with the funding of elections.”

According to The Ticker, Radke also added that the conversation between some of the participants continued into the parking lot where he saw reds and blues mingling and talking for almost an hour after the workshop concluded with a few groups saying they might get together for coffee in the future.

Radke said, “I haven’t met a single person that has come into a red-blue workshop space that hasn’t left completely surprised at the relationship building that happens during these sessions…”

He added, “I read an article a few weeks ago that basically said, ‘There are six percent of the Republicans who are just extremists, and there’s nothing you can do to change them. And then there’s eight percent of the liberals who are equally adamant about being liberal, and there’s nothing that’s going to change them either. But that leaves a
lot of people who are willing, to some degree, to be open and listen and to look for common ground. And it’s those kinds of conversations that we’re promoting.”

The segment on the Traverse City red/blue workshop will air as part of the CBS Sunday Morning show on Sunday, September 18th. It was originally scheduled to be broadcast on September 11th but was delayed due to the death of Queen Elizabeth.