In Ely, an experiment to improve political conversations has come with ups and downs

In many ways, Mike Banovetz and Emily Roose have a lot in common.

They both love Ely’s location, where an escape to the Boundary Waters chain of lakes is easy. 

But in other ways, they’re really different. 

Banovetz was born and raised here; Roose is a newcomer. Banovetz is conservative; Roose considers herself politically middle-of-the-road.

Yet late last year, the two of them were both drawn to their local Braver Angels chapter, a national organization that helps communities bridge the issues that divide them. Braver Angels is also MPR News’ partner on our Talking Sense project.

In Ely, the community hopes these workshops and meetings will help them have more productive conversations about the things that divide them, like mining, the environment and national politics.

Since then, Banovetz has joined the Ely chapter’s steering committee, helping set the agenda for meetings to come. 

He says Braver Angels has taught him that the language people use to discuss politics can be polarizing. So, he’s trying to check himself, especially in the opinion pieces he sends to the local paper.

“I have toned down my letters to the editor. I was pretty scathing,” he said. “In college, I learned a few things from one of my professors: She said, ‘You know, if you want to make your point, use telling facts.’ So that’s what I do. I use telling facts.”

For instance, Banovetz said he’s trying to think of softer terms to describe President Joe Biden and his policies.

“I can say, ‘The President is a real dirtbag,’” he said. “But I should say, ‘The President has some real issues with his cognitive skills.’”

For her part, Roose is also trying out things she’s learning from Braver Angels, especially in her work as chair of the zoning commission. 

“I make sure that I give all the different commissioners the space to share their opinions, and then ask deeper questions to try to get to the understanding of why they feel they do,” she said. “And I feel once we get to the ‘why’ then we’re able to then come to a consensus because our ‘whys’ are a lot closer than you may have thought before.”

Roose is feeling encouraged by what she’s seeing at the Braver Angels meetings.

“I’ve noticed that although there are quite a few people who maybe appear on the surface as blue-leaning side, there’s more people that are quite in the middle,” she said. “I think that that is a really powerful thing to have realized.”

But both Roose and Banovetz see there’s still a lot of work to do. Including just getting people interested in the project of civil conversations.

As a member of the steering committee, Banovetz said he hears that there’s still distrust across Ely’s political spectrum. 

“[I hear that] people who are blue-leaning don’t want to hear what the red-leaning people have to say,” he said. “The red-leaning people are saying, ‘I don’t care what the blue-leaning people have to say because they’re in control, and they do whatever they want, so why should I even show up?’”

But Banovetz isn’t giving up. This fall discussions about guns, mining and the presidential candidates are all on the agenda.

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