Yes

I start by framing their position and boxing them in. Opening salvo in a debate against a liberal: “I just don’t trust these huge corporations. I think they don’t really care about us. I think they’re all about profit and we’re all just numbers on a spreadsheet to them.”

Liberals think this is their position (it isn’t) so when you start by taking what they believe to be one of their fundamental beliefs away from them, it totally disorients them. They sense you disagree with them and want to kneejerk argue, but what are they going to say? They DO trust the big corporations? It’s NOT just about profit. So they are trapped.

From here, just keep tying your positions on every issue back to your fundamental distrust of these huge international mega-conglomerates. Bonus points if you know the names of the six corporations that control all media and are able to list them. This really shuts a liberal up because they are usually shooting their mouth off about shit they haven’t researched so when you are able to name specific corporations like that, they get worried. Their energy shifts from wanting to win the debate to wanting to not look stupid or be exposed as a politically shallow person.

Now the liberal might try to challenge you and claim that they ALSO don’t trust the big corporations. That is fine. Let them make that statement. But then challenge them to name ONE political opinion or public policy they support that runs counter to the big corporate media?

At this point they will likely draw a blank because they either don’t have any opinions outside the corporate media’s approved opinions, or they DO secretly disagree with some things but will be too scared to state those publicly. Either way you have essentially proved the point.

If on the other hand they do offer some opinions and beliefs that run counter the corporate media, then that’s fine too. Use that as common ground. Now they are boxed in to emphasizing their independent thinking, and from there, you should be able to gradually talk them out of their kneejerk brainwashing responses. The trick those is to not be cruel to them or shame them too much during this process. If you do that, they will be more inclined to retreat into their position and double down on the aggression and the corporate nonsense. That’s when you get some construction worker telling you yes, he would totally suck on a man’s ladydick and no, that is not gay, are you crazy? You know the dude wouldn’t actually suck the ladydick but he is just being stubborn. He just wants to win and feel like his side is right.

Honestly it’s almost like being a hostage negotiator or something. You have to delicately walk these people back into some kind of normalcy and the spirit of polite debate. You have to show them disagreement is okay. And you have to control your own emotions so they do not have a threat response, which is how they have been trained. You just have to be calm and reasonable and kind long enough that their fear response starts to gradually subside.

Often times, after a few hours, these people will start to loosen up and tell you all sorts of secret conservative positions they have. They almost get giddy and attached like you have shown them a way to think for themselves without giving up their self-image as a “good liberal”.