Response to "They Say, I Say"

The main point the author seems to be getting at in this particular reading is that when one is writing an argument paper it should not be forgotten that you aren't talking to yourself, this is a converstation and your paper is meant to be your contribution to that conversation.  I find my problem when writing my argument is not that I forget there are others who might not agree with me but that their own arguments skew the can skew my original question.  There is a certain amount of tangents involved with any argument and to fully argue effectively you have to understand what those tangents are and their importance to the case. 
The movie "Thank You For Smoking" keeps being brought up in class and I can see why, the main character does a really good job of skewing the question so much that his answers are correct but not for the original question.  My attempts thus far at drafting are not including the counter arguements yet because I feel that I need to fully lay out my claim and it's supports for each facet of the arguement and then go through after the draft is complete and insert the opposition's claim with my rebutal to keep me on track and not let their own tangents distract me from my main purpose. 
I didn't really like the canned phrases the reading gives us for either agreeing, disagreeing and for being of two minds on the subject.  I don't like the idea of barrowing someone else's words when I write since a writter's style is so intertwined with word and phrase choice.  I realize we should be using these examples simply to get our minds thinking critically about how we will approach our opposition.