Last Monday at a trade show for people who are part of the Florida tourist
industry, I asked the 750 assembled for lunch how many were happy with the
tone of modern politics? Not a hand was raised.
Since my Democratic friend Bob Beckel and I wrote our book "Common Ground:
How to Stop the Partisan War That Is Destroying America," among the public,
I have found a growing discontent about a campaign that had promised to be
different. Both John McCain and Barack Obama said they wanted to put to rest
the divisive and incendiary politics of the past, but in their present
campaigns both have now succumbed to politics as usual.
How did this happen when the public consistently says it is sick of it and
hates the tearing down of the other candidate rather than the building up of
the country?
In this campaign, part of the answer has to do with the massive media
buildup of Obama, which has led the McCain campaign to do commercials
mocking his "deity." It has been the only way McCain thought he could bring
Obama down to earth. But a part of the reason also has to do with the
veteran handlers, special-interest groups, fund-raisers and other unworthies
who have made a lot of money and gained considerable power over the years
with their slash-and-burn tactics. Candidates fear losing more than anything
else and when confronted with the possibility of political death, they will
cling to any lifeline thrown in their direction. If destroying one's
opponent has worked before, maybe it will work again - in spite of the
public's distaste.
McCain signaled that maybe this time things would be different when he
proposed that he and Obama participate in a series of meetings without a
media panel. I called this "An American Conversation." I had hoped it could
be modeled on the fascinating Lincoln-Douglas debates of 1858, during which
the Senate candidates eloquently battled over the big issues of their day.
Lincoln and Douglas toured seven Illinois towns and drew thousands to their
debates. The Lincoln-Douglas debates remain one of the great models for
civil discourse in the less-than-stellar history of American politics.
The Obama campaign at first indicated it might agree to the meetings, but
then someone decided such gatherings might put Obama at a disadvantage,
which is hard to imagine given Obama's superior verbal firepower and quick
mind. Maybe a consultant, fearful of losing control of the candidate, nixed
it. We'll have to wait for the history of this campaign to be written to
find out.