Jeff's Commentary - 5/11 - Project Civil Discourse

Meghan McCain wrote an article in the Daily Beast this past week on how she and her mother were out shopping in a mall and a man rudely came up to them and yelled at her mother that “your husband needs to be more conservative” before storming off.

We are quickly becoming known as the state of hate across the country.

I was around the last time our country went through a very turbulent time in the late '60s and early '70s and I think Crosby, Stills, Nash, and Young might be able to remix “Four Dead in Ohio” for an Arizona version.

Never before have sides been so divided as they are on Prop 100 and now our new 1070 law. What’s changed is the tone and tenor. No one simply talks about any of this. Both sides posture, yell and spew fear and hatred across both sides of the isle.
Meghan McCain goes on to say that “it’s almost as if to be taken seriously in politics, a certain level of anger and incivility is required. I am not saying I am not angry about many things that are going on in this country, but I do believe we can discuss our differences with respect.”

I was invited to attend Project Civil Discourse last week. It was put on with a collaboration of the Arizona Republican, Democratic and Libertarian Parties. The “Town Hall” focused on Arizona’s Sales Tax Referendum under the premise of a civil dialogue and discussion. We were put at tables of ten and after hearing a non-partisan presentation of the state economic situation and what the tax would and would not do, a team facilitator conducted a dialogue on the pros and cons. It was a refreshing idea and for the people that attended…it worked.

Of the 100 or so that were there, only three changed their minds on how they were going to vote by the nights end, but the forum showed that you can have disagreement and discourse that doesn’t include shouting and insults. We learned more about each other’s views and emotions. Empathy actually took place. There were a lot of “I see where you are coming from” in those discussions. As I said, few minds were changed, but I think there was a greater sense of “why people think the way they do” and how to walk away respecting the other sides ideals.

This group is teeing up another meeting on 1070 and I want to be there for that. The passions run much deeper on that situation and I am curious if the same kind of respect for opinion can be had at that town hall.

For now, I send Meghan McCain the message to hang in there and continue to work at reaching out to make the political process less fearful and more accepting of each other’s opinions. She finished her blog by saying “if politicians aren’t inspiring people when they are young, what hope is there that they will care when they are older.”

Project Civil Discourse takes that first step to get back to when we can talk, learn and accept each other so that we can focus on future actions rather than past events.

Jeff