This isn’t exactly bizarre, but it is nonetheless interesting. American political discourse, over the past several years, seems to have escalated out of control. Negative ads? Puh. These days we have congressmen being spit on, racial slurs hurled at African American congressmen (who also happen to be heroes of the civil rights movement), and death threats (including cut gas lines and a coffin left in a congressman’s yard), among other things. What’s interesting to me, though, is that not only are Americans tired of this incivility, they want compromise on a number of issues.
USA Today’s top story reports:
More than two-thirds in a nationwide poll taken for the
study said Americans “should be ashamed of the way elected officials
acted” during the recent health care debate. Half said the tone of
politics has declined since President Obama was elected; just 10% said
it has improved.Those surveyed were split over whether it was
more important for a politician to be willing to stand firm in support
of principles or be able to compromise to get things done.When asked about seven specific issues, however,
solid majorities said elected officials should find compromise solutions
on all but one of them, abortion. About two-thirds thought compromises
should be found on immigration and climate change legislation, two of
the most contentious issues now being debated.There were significant differences by ideology,
however. Liberals by 59%-36% favored the ability to compromise. Conservatives‘ views
were a reverse of that: By 60%-34%, they preferred a willingness to
stand firm.The telephone survey of 1,000 people, taken by
Zogby International March 24-29, has a margin of error of +/– 3.2
percentage points.
I find it particularly striking that liberals are significantly more likely to seek compromise than conservatives. You can read more here.
