Meanness and Civility in Politics
We're better than this. Hopefully.
8 years ago, frustrated at the tone around political discourse, I wrote a letter to the editor of our local paper. It was titled “Candidates Need to Grow Up”. While I might have had a slightly different perspective today, I think the premise still stands.
I’ve repurposed that letter here.
Sept. 22, 2014
To the editor: This year, Alaska’s senate race comes down to (if we are to believe the attack ads) either an un-Alaskan, child-abuse-loving outsider, or President Obama’s right-hand socialist squeeze. It’s not that simple, if you look past what the two camps are saying about each other. To those without the resources, inclination or time to do their own research on the candidates, it seems that voting itself has become a depressingly meaningless act. Maybe the destructive nature of this public misinformation can help explain why, during the last election, scantly more than 30 percent of potential voters took to the polls.
That means letting less than a third of Alaskans make the tough choices for the rest of us. If attack ads really do discourage the electorate from going out and voting, we shouldn’t stand for them. I implore you to write to Mark Begich and Dan Sullivan and make it clear that you won’t stand for their misplaced aggression. If everyone who was willing to vote in later elections wrote to their candidate of choice and let them know that attack ads were unacceptable, Alaska politics would clear up considerably. And that would be good for Alaska.
I’m sure that Dan Sullivan and Senator Begich are both probably intelligent, capable men with great character. Sadly, that’s not what it seems like to me or anyone else who turns on their TV, radio, Internet browser or sits inside a house with a phone. They have both lost my respect. In the upcoming election I will make the best choice I can, but it’s the best of a bad bunch to be sure.
Also, I’d like the campaigns to stop harassing me and other everyday Alaskans with their political phone calls. I’ve been called 12 times by various political committees just today.
Grow up, gentlemen. Alaska needs you.
Jan (Kuba) Grzeda
Fairbanks
Now, I’m a little older and very slightly wiser and I understand that a lot of attacks come from political action committees and other groups, not candidates directly. And they are employed because in the vacuum of a single election, they can work.
But I don’t believe that, in aggregate, attack ads are good for voter turnout or the long term health of our democracy.
Civility
I recently ran for local office. My opponent and I were civil to each other. I lost. Voter turnout was not great. Was I too civil? What does civility mean?
I’ve asked myself many times if people are more likely to participate in a political process if they feel a passionate hatred towards one side. I really hope that’s not the only way forward.
One of my favorite community perspectives, unprompted, came from Martha Raynolds, who I don’t think I’ve ever met. Her letter is included below.
To the editor: Kudos to Brett Rotermund and Kuba Grzeda for such a surprisingly cordial ending to their Chamber of Commerce candidate forum session. What a welcome change to hear candidates appreciative of their opponent’s perspective and integrity. Standing for public office is a daunting prospect. These two demonstrated how it should be done.
With civility to all, we will have more people willing to run for public office, and our community will benefit. Thank you.
Martha Raynolds
Fairbanks
It meant a lot to read that letter, and I reread it again the day after election results were live. I hope she’s right.
Politics helps bring the meanness (and indifference) out
I think that many people see politics as a football game, with a red and a blue side hammering away at each other. The emotion involved is very much “us vs them”. Those unhappy with either team sit quietly on the sidelines, or yell at both teams.
The similarities carry over to the kind of discourse that any candidate faces on the campaign trail.
I had it much easier than most: white men complain easily. But I was still disappointed by what I sometimes ran into. Candidates, no matter if you disagree with their platform, are people too.
Online comments are, of course, particularly mean. Social media is a required tool in most modern campaigns, but candidates (especially for the truly small campaigns, like mine), are the ones who read those hurtful comments.
I think a not-insignificant number of potential voters see the meanness, whether it be from fellow community members or candidates themselves, and decide to tune the whole thing out.
In summary
There can be a thin line between telling the truth, righting wrongs, and attacking others. Speaking truth to power can and should involve strong words. I hope more groups consider those nuances.
I also hope you and your friends don’t fall for the attack ad. It shifts the conversation away the issues and helps precipitate voter distrust in our electoral system. Rebel. Participate! Call out the attack ads when you see them. Don’t let the meanness win.
Do your research (you can see who I’m supporting here, but I encourage you to dig deeper, too) and vote on November 8th.