Konar is the founder of Common Ground Solutions, a nonprofit that seeks to increase civic engagement and improve political discourse. Kull is the president of Voice of the People, a nonprofit that's developing methods for citizens to crowd-source policy proposals with broad appeal.

It's a sign of our fractious age: Each Thanksgiving, as millions of families prepare for the holiday weekend together, we see numerous "how to" guides for navigating and avoiding political discussions. "Even the most innocent mention of politics or social issues could threaten to turn MawMaw's house into the thunder dome," wrote CNN.

No one wants a cable TV shouting match to ruin the holiday. But the idea that we are too hopelessly polarized to have a reasonable conversation about politics is wrong. In fact, on many of our toughest issues, like health care, immigration, taxes and political reform, large majorities of Americans share a remarkable amount of common ground.