Does your candidate lose ground if you treat the other candidate with respect?

I’m not sure where it’s coming from, but I don’t think this is necessarily how politics work, but only how people discuss it. I think it’s more likely the average person doesn’t even know what the heck they’re talking about, or they’ve only heard something sensational from a news article.

Whenever I hear someone discussing something political, it’s “Did you know Obama did this?” or “Did you know Santorum did this?” And we’re all guilty of it, but it’s really easy to say republicans do this and democrats do this, which turns into tribal warfare.

I’ve been teaching myself to attack the premise only instead of the entire ideology. So this way, when someone makes a claim, I can either debunk it or accept it, instead of replying with an attack toward that person’s ideology.

@Blackberry: “I’ve been teaching myself to attack the premise only instead of the entire ideology. So this way, when someone makes a claim, I can either debunk it or accept it, instead of replying with an attack toward that person’s ideology.”

This is key. Ad hominem passes for logical argument in many circles. I don’t think the problem is that we’re uncivil or unwilling to compromise. It just appears that some people lack the ability to engage in reasonable discussion without shitting out logical fallacies, folding their arms, and declaring “I nailed it”.

I know a 14 year old boy who has a picture of Obama as his Facebook icon with the word “Communist” on it. I’m guessing he can’t define communist. Previously, I held him to be thoughtful and above all, respectful. I knew which way his politics ran (from his parents). But now he just seems like a punk.

Other people are making unfounded claims about things they can’t know, obviously just quoting someone else who doesn’t know either.

I’ve hated politics for a long time. I think the puppet masters on both sides see nothing but winning. But has the general public debate become more unfair, more __ad hominem__?

Certainly not. You gain ground, IMO.

The culture is usually created by our leaders. The way they treat the opposition is the way we treat them as well. If the leader treats opposing ideas with disdain, if he treats the people that prose them with ridicule, his followers will as well. Obama set the tone for all of this early on and it has only grown. Statements like The Republicans drove the car in the ditch, now they have to sit in the back or my door is always open but don’t bring me any of those failed policies of the past, have set the tone. And of course (my favorite) locking the door to insure Republicans have no voice in the health care bill or even knowledge of what might go in it.

He made it clear that opposition was not loyal but rather something to be derided, ridiculed, treated with disdain. When he is willing to publicly criticize the Supreme Court in his State of the Union while they have to sit silently in front of him, when he invites Paul Ryan to his speech then uses the opportunity to ridicule him, he makes it quite clear that this is how he wants the debate. It is unfortunate, but the die is set. For the opposition to not respond in kind would be to forfeit the race.

I would like my elected officials to behave with dignity and respect. If I see them demonstrating those behaviours during the election campaign that would not diminish their appeal, it would enhance it. Just being dignified and respectful would not be sufficient to guarantee my vote, I would still want them to have policies and ideas I agree with. It wouldn’t hurt though.

It’s a little crazy, isn’t it? I so wish we could just debate actual (or proposed) policies, and not who is evil or crazy or what have you.

The moment in John McCain’s campaign where I regained some respect for him was when he politely told an older woman in the crowd that she was wrong about Obama being an evil Muslim African terrorist. Up til that point, I thought he’d lost all his dignity.

Respect and dignity might allow us to think that our politicians are better than they are. They expose themselves when they can’t even be civil to each other. Perhaps it’s better if we see the truth. We do want to be free, do we not?

@Sunny2 I’m not asking about them. I’m asking about us.

Generally a candidate will lose ground with me the more they resort to negative campaign tactics or mudslinging despite the issues. It is the same reason why I would never vote for any law enforcment official (judge, district attorney, etc) who ran on a platform of ‘being tough on crime’. I’m more interested in justice and fairness, not toughness. Likewise I prefer a more humble candidate.