I think about it with different divisions. For politicians (as opposed to people in other professions), they are obviously responsible for the policies their p

I think about it with different divisions. For politicians (as opposed to people in other professions), they are obviously responsible for the policies their parties support, to the extent that they support their parties. Given not every politician votes in lockstep with their party. BUT for individuals in the US, their personal positions are often more complex than the binary reductions the two-party system affords us. Consequently, there are many (most?) dissenters on one issue or another in both parties. If a person has thoughts on matters, it's therefore more interesting to me to discuss those thoughts, than to derive my interactions with them solely by their D or R label.