A Lack of Respect
Most Americans are aware that US Senators and Congressmen and Congresswomen are near the bottom in popularity polls. This fact has to concern senators and representatives who, nevertheless, choose to serve despite their public image. It should also concern us.
To understand the reasons for this downward trend, we need to ask how the political views of most Americans are formed. I’m convinced that few Americans read Congressional Quarterly or other unbiased news sources devoted to Capitol Hill. Probably as few or fewer are the number of Americans who watch C-Span’s coverage of debates on the Senate floor or in the House of Representatives. In other words, we live in a democracy where few of us pay attention to what is going on in Washington from day to day.
For political junkies from the right and the left, there is, of course, political coverage on Fox News, MSN, CNN, and the like, though none of that coverage is unbiased. And our elected officials send out semi-regular emails to constituents, but how many of us actually read those mailings? Let’s face it. Most of us know more about what our favorite sports team is doing than what our elected officials are working on.
This summer, I discovered what is perhaps one major cause of the poor reputation of our representatives in Washington and in state capitals. This dawned on me while I was in Wisconsin, a state, unlike Indiana, that is divided nearly equally between Republican and Democratic supporters. Watching local TV in August and into September, I noted that few commercial breaks contained just one political ad. Most breaks contained at least two.
These commercials were uniformly vicious. The candidates portrayed their opponents as beneficiaries of fraud, extremists of the right or the left, and diabolical crooks intent on destroying our country. Rarely did the candidates focus on their political goals. And it’s not just that these ads appear on TV. I found similar ads all over social media.
While I am not politically neutral, I found the ads from my preferred party as misleading and despicable as those of the other party. If I were an undecided voter assaulted by these ads, I’d end up thinking everyone in politics belongs in jail. No wonder Americans view their representatives with distain.
Yes, I’m aware that politics in our country have always been meanspirited to a degree, but there is something in the current climate that doesn’t bode well for our country. If I am right in thinking that the public’s view of politicians is largely formed—or deformed—by these unavoidable and incessant ads, then politicians and political parties can only blame themselves for the low view Americans have of them.
It’s a classic case of someone aiming at someone else but, in the end, shooting himself in the foot. If politicians want more respect, they should begin by giving more respect to their opponents.