Two longtime candidates in the Upper Cumberland said this year’s primary races have been uglier than they have ever seen, with loads of drama and hate on social media.
Tennessee Tech Associate Professor of Sociology and Political Science Lauren Harding said the negative partisanship attitudes on the national level may be seeping downhill.Harding also said local politicians take direction from party leaders at the top.
“We see this national debate deteriorating, right,” Harding said. “At the national level, we have even our presidential candidates using derogatory language, name calling, demonizing, and so it probably doesn’t surprise us that we see the same kind of problems filtering into the local level.”
Harding said the current political system does not reward moderation. Instead, she said politicians that reach across the aisle are far more likely to be criticized. Harding said politicians need to focus on policy differences rather than personal attacks, citing communication and compromise as the solution to modern challenges.
“Civil discourse is what allows us to communicate effectively about politics and to solve problems collectively,” Harding said. “So being able to really have a conversation that’s based on respect and dignity, despite opposition, despite disagreement, is really at the cornerstone of being able to solve public problems. And so when that deteriorates to demonization, name calling, and alienation, basically seeing the other person as a bad person because of their political attitudes or party affiliation, that has negative repercussions all throughout the system.”
Donald Trump calling Democratic voters vermin and Kamala Harris and Joe Biden referring to Republicans as Nazis, Harding said, are just some examples of the heightened hostility from party elites.
Harding said this division leads to gridlock in congress and failures across government.
“We need to see civility modeled by party leaders and elected officials, from the top down, sending signals that, you know, we see each other and treat each other with dignity and respect, even when we disagree. We’re not seeing that right now,” Harding said.