Political Peace Posse

On Oct. 30, 2023, Tara Tuck wrote a post on the Marco Island page of Nextdoor, the online social media app that connects users by neighborhood. “I know that political discussions usually become extremely heated and that this is not the forum for demonstrating animosity,” she wrote. “It is very disturbing to me, though, that there seem to be very few civilized discussions about political views.”

Unlike many posts on social media that simply rant and rage about a certain problem, Tuck actually offered a solution. “I am proposing an in-person discussion group of those of us who want to really listen to each other – not to blame or call names – on both sides of the political spectrum,” she wrote. “I don’t know how we can heal our country without true communication.”

Many commented on her post, most offering praise and support for the idea, several calling her brave.

“Brave? I saw that and I’m thinking, really?” she says. “People aren’t going to come with their guns drawn or anything. We’re all civilized people. This is Marco Island.”

Tuck’s instincts about the better angels of humanity, to paraphrase Lincoln, proved true. Since her October post, she has gathered a group of Marco residents twice a month, equally split between Republicans and Democrats  - with an independent thrown in the mix - to have civil discussions about a myriad hot button issues: immigration; the Israeli-Hamas war; Trump’s indictments; the perceived politicization of the Justice Department; diversity, equity and inclusion; freedom of speech; parents’ and teachers’ rights; Biden’s and Trump’s relationships with various world leaders.

“My idea was that we could get people in a room to have civilized discussions,” she says. “I’ve really seen that happen. It’s absolutely possible.”

That outcome isn’t happenstance. It’s the result of hours of research and preparation on Tuck’s part, and years of training and experience as an educator and skilled facilitator.

“She gets us started and keeps us on track,” says Randy Eagan, a Marco Democrat who attends the meetings and jokingly refers to Tuck as “Sister Tara.” “It’s enjoyable. With her communications background, she’s good at asking everybody what they think and keeping everybody involved.”

“She does a great job of not just getting us all together but doing a lot of note taking and categorizing of ideas,” says Mike Josephs, a Marco Republican member of the group. “She’s a pretty darn good referee, and not a referee who’s black and white.”

Tuck grew up in West Hartford, CT and lived in Boston most of her life before moving to Marco. She received her Bachelor of Science in education from Lesley College in Cambridge, MA, her masters in communication disorders from Boston University and a certificate of advanced graduate study in administration, planning and social policy from Harvard University. She spent years as a special education teacher and speech and language pathologist, has done seminars and facilitation for businesses, is a published author and continues to teach online courses today.

“I started my career as a classroom teacher,” says Tuck, who describes herself as an independent. “As a classroom teacher, you have to be a pretty good facilitator. You’ve got a bunch of kids in the room and you have to know how to handle that group. And sometimes it’s a group that doesn’t want to be handled.”

Tuck has named the group the Political Peace Posse. She prepares for each meeting by doing extensive research on specific topics and creating a list of questions for the meeting that reflect both sides of a debate to facilitate robust but civil discussion. The January 9 meeting of the Posse was largely focused on the Israeli-Hamas war. The questions she posed to the team included: Does Israel have a right to its land and an Israeli state? What is the Hamas ideology and what are its goals? Why haven’t Arab countries taken Palestinian refugees? Should Israel cease-fire because of civilian casualties? Were the Abraham Accords successful in beginning the peace process?

At a late January meeting on the border and immigration, Tuck’s questions included: Are we doing enough vetting, background checks, identifying people on the terror watch list? Should employers use the E-Verify system? Should sanctuary cities be allowed? Can we impose limits to asylum eligibility? Can we decrease the time set for court appearances?

After that particular meeting, Tuck circulated meeting notes that captured the main points each side felt strongly about and, more importantly to the spirit of the effort, what both sides agreed on.  

Tuck runs the meetings with a set of ground rules. “At the beginning, we all agreed to just be kind to each other,” she says. “No name calling, be respectful and listen. Really listen and ask questions to get clarification and try to understand how the other person is thinking. And let’s not interrupt each other, which can be hard because people get so energetic about a subject and want to get their two cents in.”

Eagan and Josephs, who sat together with me for their interview, both agree that the effort has been an illuminating exercise in better understanding both sides of contentious issues. “I wanted to open myself up to possibly hearing something I hadn’t heard before,” Eagan says. “I also wanted the opportunity to maybe tell the other side things that they may not have heard.”

Josephs said he grew up in a family that was accustomed to civil political discussions debating both sides of issues. “When I was a young boy, my parents were not very political, but I do remember political conversations with me, with their friends,” he says. “And every one of them ended peacefully. They might not have agreed with how the conversation went, but they never talked poorly about anyone. There weren’t hard feelings.”

“I have many friends and family who have different political thoughts from me,” Josephs says. “I’ve already had those conversations with them. I want to do the same with people I don’t know in my new environment here in Marco Island.”

When asked if either had changed their mind about any issues as a result of the group, they both said no, but Eagan did say he’s evolved on the topic of the border and immigration. “I thought it was a problem, but I didn’t see it as a crisis,” he says. “In the last few weeks, I’ve been convinced that there’s a crisis at the border.”

For now, Tuck is hoping to expand the Posse’s efforts in Marco, but rather than making the group larger, she’d rather start new groups to keep the size manageable and the vibe of the original effort intact. She’s considering creating YouTube content around the idea, as well as an online course in order to expand her mission. “I’d like to offer this to universities, churches, high schools, community organizations and so forth,” she says. “I want to see people communicate and come together. I’m just baffled by what’s happening in this country.”

Any individual or group looking to learn more about or participate in future Posse efforts should email Tuck at taratuck@gmail.com.