Especially when it is a closed belief system that defines politics as tribal combat

Is this not exactly what people are doing by making sweeping generalizations about others? I get you have had bad experiences, and I don't doubt it in the slightest; however, saying that

You can't talk to them person to person

seems very problematic. Yes, there are plenty of bad actors and people who will argue in bad faith, but there are also those who literally have never been exposed to different ways of thinking. There are those who have succumbed to the outrage machine. There are those who may just need a small nudge to challenge these beliefs they've been spoonfed their whole life.

The moment that you write off a whole group of people based on political beliefs, you write off any chance you have to change minds.