In search of civility in politics

OPINION:

New Lisbon, Wis. — In 1969, the nation seemed more divided on ideological and partisan lines than anyone could remember. In retrospect, it seems a lot like today. As a conservative activist at the University of Wisconsin, I debated a leftist on the nation’s Vietnam policy in front of about 600 of our fellow students. When I finished my presentation, my opponent got up, walked to the podium, and announced that he would not stoop to replying, but enthusiastically promised the crowd that “come the revolution,” I would be among the first executed.

That didn’t surprise me as much as the standing ovation. Those were trying times on many university campuses. Leftists blew up a campus building and killed a graduate student, and another firebombed the offices of a new student conservative publication. Eventually, the National Guard was mobilized in Madison to maintain a semblance of order on the campus of more than 30,000 students. The fellow who pledged to have me shot was elected to the Madison City Council.

A recent NBC poll found that 80% of Democrats and Republicans perceive their partisan opposites as a threat to the very foundations of the American republic. With the urging of a media determined to emphasize our differences, Americans are coming to see those who disagree with them not just as wrong, but as evil. This means millions of our fellow Americans look at those with whom they disagree in the same way my college debate opponent viewed me.

There have always been a few, found mostly in the fever swamps of the right and left, prepared to do just about anything to counter the threats they see. Today they have climbed out of the swamps to dominate the airwaves and social media on a slippery slope to an unimaginable hell. They are loath to grant concessions as liberals or progressives dismiss others as racists and now fascists. There are conservatives who are just as paranoid, but it is the left that has forgotten that we live in a nation that has survived this long because the founders designed a system that required civility and a willingness to compromise. To have a sitting president join in the name-calling is a new phenomenon.

Conservatives and liberals today are just as likely to view their opponents as aspiring tyrants dedicated to destroying the Constitution and American freedom. The depth of these feelings is reflected in the deeper-than-usual interest in this year’s elections and predictions of high voter turnout. Voters are being told that everything depends on Nov. 8. Much does. The parties have widely differing visions and agendas, but divisions as deep as those uncovered by the NBC pollsters reflect badly on the health of our democracy.

Politics hasn’t always been this way. It “ain’t beanbag,” as was observed long ago, but there were limits. President Ronald Reagan fought with his Democratic opponents, but he readily admitted his strong Democratic family ties and questioned not the patriotism or motives of his adversaries, but their judgment. Fanning conspiracy theories are the alarming differences in the way the FBI treats crime, the way the press reports on some groups, and the insistence of the Jan. 6 Committee that thousands of Americans were bent upon destroying the very democracy that allowed them to demonstrate in support of their views.

Those who confuse wrongheadedness with evil are too often wrong and in so doing become the very threat to the democracy they claim to oppose.

Elections produce winners and losers. That is what elections are about. Their results have real consequences, but the system depends on losers willing to accept the results of fairly run elections with the realization that they will have a chance to come back the next time around. The winners must realize this as well. The tendency of winners to use the power they acquire to jigger with the rules to ensure another win undermines the foundations of the republic.

The good news is that the divisions among real people does not seem as deep as one might conclude from the NBC numbers. Most Americans know elections are important and their results have real consequences, but they are not as cynical or as paranoid as the numbers suggest. They will celebrate the wins of their favorite candidates, mourn the losses, and get back to earning a living and raising their families.

Much like the fans of the baseball teams that won’t be playing in this fall’s World Series, most whose candidates don’t prevail may mutter “Wait till next year!” because in a free society, they know there will always be a next year.

• David Keene is editor-at-large at The Washington Times.