Email insights: Democratic website helps handle “Your Republican Uncle” during Thanksgiving

There's a lot to be thankful for this year.

For most people, holidays are supposed to be filled with fun, food and celebration.

With that in mind, for the sake of keeping the peace, it’s always a good rule of thumb to avoid talking politics during family get-togethers.

However, that may be next to impossible this year, as Thanksgiving falls in the midst of the highly charged 2016 presidential elections.

Coming to the rescue is an email from the Democratic National Committee, which offers “The Democrat’s Guide to Talking Politics with Your Republican Uncle” a new website giving tips for the liberally minded family member on how to deal with certain “lively conversations” around the dinner table.

“As Democrats, it’s up to each of us to go into those situations ready with the truth,” says DNC Communications Director Luis Miranda.

Providing “access to all the facts you could ever want,” Miranda “officially deputizes” supporters to serve as Deputy Democratic Spokespersons for the Thanksgiving weekend.

YourRepublicanUncle.com presents fact-filled comebacks on the policy stances of Republican presidential candidates and issues like climate change, immigrants, the economy, the Affordable Care Act and more. The website goes into detail on how to respond to comments about Jeb Bush, Ted Cruz, John Kasich, Marco Rubio and front-runner Donald Trump.

For example, when someone says they like how Trump “says what he means,” the DNC offers this retort:

“He certainly does say what he means, and most of the time, it’s xenophobic or sexist or out of touch, or totally irresponsible. But what’s really scary is that the rest of the GOP field agrees with him. Because Trump is leading in the polls, the other Republican candidates are competing with each other to see who can echo his message the loudest.”

The site also debunks other GOP claims, such as voter fraud (“Only 0.00000013 percent of votes cast from 2002-2005 resulted in convictions or guilty pleas for voter fraud”) and refugees (“Wouldn’t it be nice to spend Thanksgiving talking about how to make our country more welcoming …”).

It may not completely prevent tempers from flaring, nor will it change anyone’s mind in the long run, but having facts handy could prevent politics from spoiling an otherwise happy Thanksgiving.

And for that, nearly everyone could give thanks.