Rep. Bob Inglis and the Difficulty of Being Reasonable

One of the casualties of the Tea Party craze sweeping the nation was South Carolina Republican Bob Inglis.  Inglis had a moderate/conservative voting record (based on contemporary US politics) but lost a primary challenge to a Tea Party candidate, after a lot of noise regarding his votes on TARP and other "liberal" programs.

Inglis has come out recently criticizing the leadership of the GOP, ridiculing such nonsensical positions as the "birther" issue as well as climate change denial.  I applaud him for being willing to stand up to this portion of his party, rallying behind the basis of scientific consensus and facts.  He said his party is arguing against global warming "(b)ecause 98 of the doctors say, 'Do this thing,' two say, 'Do the other.'"  This is a good thing to hear from someone on the right, even if it is someone who was defeated in his primaries and will be replaced by a farther-right partisan in January.

A few thoughts come to mind after reading about Rep. Inglis.  First off, why is it that only Republicans are covered in the press discussing the nonsensical nature of climate change denial?  Is it that they are the only ones standing up to say these things?  Or is it a matter of the press only wanting to report those who go against the grain?  I suspect it's the latter... there's no "news" in a Democrat standing up and defending the science of climate change, but when a politician stands against his party, even in the defense of overwhelming scientific consensus, it's more newsworthy.

Secondly, and perhaps more importantly, why do we feel that reasonable discussion and debate will change the mind of those so strongly opposed to our positions?  When someone like Rep. Inglis stands up against the partisan nonsense that has come to control the Republicans, he is shouted down as a sore loser by those on his side.  On the few issues that Inglis worked with Democrats, he is reviled by his fellow party members for being weak.

How do we liberals expect to have our voiced heard when even conservatives such as Inglis can't get their message across to those who mistrust science so badly?