Old School--Updated

Readers often complain to me that politics is "meaner" than in the past.  They point out that it's not just in Arizona; Washington, and indeed the entire country, has become entirely partisan.  I usually remind people that the election of 1800 was no picnic and that Hamilton and Burr weren't exactly close.  However, I will concede that the critics are right.  Politics has become increasingly personal and mean spirited in the last 20 to 30 years.

It hasn't always been this way. I served in the Arizona House from 1991 to 1995 and had the privilege of working with Democrats like Art Hamilton, Herb Guenther and Henry Evans.  The spirit of that time was perhaps best exemplified by the working relationship between Mark Killian and Jack Brown.  That group represented the remnant of an era that included legislators like Burton Barr, Carl Kunasek and Stan Turley.

To be sure, there are Republicans and Democrats who currently serve in the legislature and have become friends.  But the overall trend has been for politics to become more mean spirited and petty over time. 

Some argue that this deterioration is the natural way of things--a type of social entropy.  Yet entropy-- the Thermodynamic principle of disorder that domonstrates why the ice in your glass melts, or explains the transition from Louis Armstrong to Kenny G--is not always inevitable. 

One of the great things about law school is that I have had the chance to work closely with some of the current Democratic icons and I have realized that the current state of politics is not the result of the participants being petty and mean.  The Democrats I've worked with in recent years have been as talented, gracious and professional as their counterparts were 20 years ago. The problem is institutional.

Take for example the new website sponsored by the Democratic party.  The site has managed to generate a lot of buzz and I'm sure there are some kids at Democratic Headquarters who think it's a hoot.  However, the Crazy AZ site is tasteless, mean and unprofessional.  The party elite don't have the excuse that the site is hosted by some disgruntled Precinct Committeeman living in his mom's basement.  The site is sponsored by, built by and paid for by the Arizona Democratic party. 

I say this with no sense of irony; the Crazy AZ site is below the dignity of the Democratic Party.  It cheapens the discourse.  It represents a mean-spirited and needless acceleration in the deterioration of civility that has marked the last twenty years of politics.  The site frankly lacks class. 

In addition to cheapening the debate, Crazy AZ website is a poor strategic move as well.  After all, stunts like this tend to escalate. 

So I'm hoping that the grown ups in the Democratic hierarchy will call down to headquarters and tell the kids that it was funny for a while, but it's time to pull the site down and start thinking about issues, message, GOTV, recruiting and money.  You know, like adults who run a political party.

UPDATE:

There have been a lot of comments on this post.  I thought this comment about the Crazy AZ site by "Democratic Activist" was pretty interesting.

This site not only reduces the discourse and is unhelpful in the philosophical sense, it is poor strategy, not clever, and generally unhelpful. It is the latest reflection of the dramatic decline in the proverbial product put out by the State Party since the end of the last election.

It is an open secret that, following the last election, the state party staff transformed from a generally decent political operation to a dramatically unqualified clique that have been squandering a unique opportunity with amateurish misappropriations of time, energy, resources, and political capital.

(Like this ludicrous website; are Democratic donors really thinking they pay for this stuff, or are they being misled to think they are paying for boots on the ground doing effective organizing in communities, i.e. more than six weeks before an election? Is causing a minor sensation among the chattering classes REALLY more effective than voter contact? Especially when resources directed here from out of state may be thin due to the McCain nomination?)

Every Democrat can only hope and pray that this incident (or any of a number of others) will cause someone with the influence and foresight to set things straight will insure that an operation staffed by competent political professionals across the board is put into place for the upcoming coordinated campaign.

Comments

[T.J. Shope]

This site is pretty cheesy at best and over the line at worst. If nothing else, at least they're wasting their time with crap like this instead of doing the grown up work that you talk about in your post.

[nick]

What are the Great accomplishments of
the current democrat congress?

[SonoranSam]

The Democratic site is fair game, but remember that the Rs live in a glass house.

Just check out the slanderous comments posted by your pals over at Sonoran Alliance regarding the Governor's veto of two abortion bills.

[Ann]

Independent actors are not the same as the party, Sam. And we both have witnessed the folks at SA take after certain GOP members in some pretty heated ways...like me for instance!

This is Bittnerish from top to bottom. Young, bright, flip, egocentric, and foolish.

[John]

Sonoran Alliance = Not paid for by political party

CrAZyspace = Paid for by political party

Nice try, but that attempt at equivalency just fell flat on its face.

[Paul]

Plus, as a professional web site developer... gotta say that the site looks like it was designed by a 12-year-old.

[Dan]

Sam,

When did Sonoran Alliance ever comment on someone who had not already put his/her life into the public space? If there are slanderous comments on the site send an e-mail to them so they can be taken down.

So innuendo in the comment section of an independently run blog is the same as a website put up by the state party? That is quite a stretch.

[Travis]

I hope someone is printing out the non-sense on there. The Dems have a way of doing some incredibly mean things and then denying it ever happened. It's helpful to be able to show intelligent Democrats what their party is doing.

[Bob]

Note the utter lack of decency in posting Rep. Trish Groe's DUI mug shot on this site. Where is the so-called mainstream media when the Arizona Democratic Party makes fun of a public figure's struggles with alcoholism?

[ron]

Reading the blog and the comments, I began to think that 'crazy AZ' was the official website of the Arizona Democratic Party. The official website is http://www.azdem.org/about/

However, from the bottom of the 'Crazy AZ' blog the ownership and sponsorship is clear - it is the AZ Democratic Party. I agree it looks very junior highish.

Even the spelling in the various pieces is very junior high -'gurls' for 'girls'. Of course, its been awhile I have been in school, maybe this is how we spell in AZ these days. I understand 'approximate' spelling is an approved method of teaching spelling in Arizona.

[Bob]

One bill (HB 2086) which the site uses to prove that Republican legislators are "crazy" passed the House 58-0. Paton and Lujan were the only absent members. So all the Dems voted yes on this so-called crazy bill.

[Democratic Activist]

This site not only reduces the discourse and is unhelpful in the philosophical sense, it is poor strategy, not clever, and generally unhelpful. It is the latest reflection of the dramatic decline in the proverbial product put out by the State Party since the end of the last election.

It is an open secret that, following the last election, the state party staff transformed from a generally decent political operation to a dramatically unqualified clique that have been squandering a unique opportunity with amateurish misappropriations of time, energy, resources, and political capital.

(Like this ludicrous website; are Democratic donors really thinking they pay for this stuff, or are they being misled to think they are paying for boots on the ground doing effective organizing in communities, i.e. more than six weeks before an election? Is causing a minor sensation among the chattering classes REALLY more effective than voter contact? Especially when resources directed here from out of state may be thin due to the McCain nomination?)

Every Democrat can only hope and pray that this incident (or any of a number of others) will cause someone with the influence and foresight to set things straight will insure that an operation staffed by competent political professionals across the board is put into place for the upcoming coordinated campaign.

[SonoranSam]

Folks: I'm not defending the crAZy site. It's not funny and it's not in good taste.

And I admire the authors of SA for trying hard to keep the discourse polite, which is why I visit. They do often take down posts that are in poor taste.

Having said that - and it's Sunday morning as I write this - when I visited yesterday they still had comments up that speculated about the Governor's personal life in a mean-spirited fashion.

Politics is a contact sport. Enduring satire and jabs to the ribs is part of the price ya pay for getting in the game.

But the speculation about Napolitano is based solely on her appearance, and not on the way she lives her life, or conducts herself in office.

It doesn't matter whether the party paid for it or someone else. I can certainly find nasty stuff about Democrats on party-financed sites.

Mean is mean.

[John]

Sure, kind of like the left's classy posts about the late Charlton Heston.

http://wigdersonlibrarypub.blogspot.com/2008/04/those-classy-leftists.html

[Ann]

Mean is mean, dumb is dumb, and foolish arrogance often incorporates both. The owner of the action holds the responsibility for the perception. On an open comment site like SA, whoever posts is the holder of the value they espouse. If it is a site dedicated to providing information as the owner sees fit, then they hold all ownership of the information and the intent.

It could be said that sites like Espresso Pundit are less controversial or likely to incite disharmony in the manner that Greg moderates. I personally like it, having never been called names here like I have over at the “other” place. But, I enter all open sites willingly and do so with the full understanding that I might be less than well received by some. Greg owns this site, he is the gatekeeper of the info in and out, he is not a political party (even tho’ some say he is a party political) and as owner, the info he posts reflects him and him only.

Who owns that site?

I have to say, if that is the way they are spending their time and energy, it looks better all the time for the GOP!

[Travis]

I agree with Ann about the benefit to the GOP when the Dems monkey around like this.

The best way to take advantage of this would be for the GOP to stand up with principled and intelligent arguments and unify around qualified candidates. Unfortunately, Pullen and his people seem to want to continue to be divisive within the party and miss opportunities to unify.

[jdleslie1]

Here's the sad thing: Call me a cynic, but I unshakeably believe that if Groe were a Democrat, she would receive similiar treatment at the hands of Republicans. Karen Johnson's divorces might be paraded even worse than they are. And on and on. You can deny it, but neither party has a great record on restraint.

Politics is contact sport, but civil discourse is vital. Instead, we get these petty attacks and the other side always willing to point fingers and say "They started it." I, for one, am sick of it.

One of the reasons I look forward to a McCain-Obama election is that both seem willing to rise above this stuff. I'm certain neither is or will be a saint, but both seem to try. I appreciated Obama's rejection of a speaker's labeling of McCain as a "warmonger," just as I appreciated McCain repudiating a rally speaker who kept using Obama's middle name of Hussein to plant an underhanded suggestion with people.

One of the things I especially appreciate about Len Munsil, himself a guy who has endured awful attacks, is the way he conducts himself on this. He too has called for more civil discourse. I recall him condemning Ann Coulter, who is the queen of mean, for over-the-line attacks.

Greg's measured call here is also appreciated.

[Longtime fan]

Another argument for eliminating term limits, and perhaps even lengthening terms for state legislators. There is a reason the US Senate is more civilized that the House. With people more and more likely to be around longer, the institution's members will more likely plan to make fewer enemies.

Parties are another story, they are supposed to be "less accountable" to sitting legislators and more accountable to enthusiastic donors who want to win seats from the opponents.

[Commander In Chief]

Would you like some cheese with that whine?
Actually, let's begin by reviewing some basics. Entropy is not a Thermodynamic principle that domonstrates why your ice melts. Domonstrates is not a word.
If we're using science to explain what's going on here, let's use real words and real science. Let's begin with the Ideal Gas Law. PV=nRT. Of course you all remember this from Chemistry 101. This law states that the amount of hot gas and whining from the conservative end of the political spectrum increases in direct proportion to the number of elections they've lost in the last few years. Avogadro's fifth hypothesis of Thermo-Political Pollution further states that when the Republican Party is headed for a big loss in the next election, the volume of hot gas and whining increases exponentially until it just about blows the lid off the whole planet.
Ann Coulter calls John Edwards a fag. The Swift Boat Veterans call John Kerry a liar, a murderer, and a traitor. Republican delegates at their national convention wear band-aids with purple hearts on them. George H.W. Bush runs against Michael Dukakis and Willie Horton. On the floor of the United States Senate, Dick Cheney tells a United States Senator to go fuck himself. Rush Limbaugh, well, let's not even go there. We've gone far enough.
If you can dish it out, boys, you'd better be able to take it. Conservatives dish it out big time. They just can't seem to take it.
Sure, the CrazyAZ site is silly and sophomoric. Mean spirited? Lacks class? Cheapens discourse? Oh heavens.
While we are discussing cheap discourse, how about this cheap line: "Obama is unelectable no matter how many times he disowns his white grandmother." From espressopundit.com.
Now that's cheap. It takes a line from a remarkably intelligent, nuanced, heartfelt speech by Senator Obama and twists it into a snotty, mean spirited, nasty little putdown. It's pretty blatantly racist as well. Doesn't this cheapen discourse a little bit? Lack class? Merit an apology?
Then let's solve PV=nRT. Given 685 grams of C3H8 at a temperature of 340 degree Kelvin and a pressure of 760 torr, what is V?
Real words. Real science. Real sad when you can dish it out so well but can't take it.

[Ann]

Bothered much are you?

Try decaf.

[Aaron]

There is no way to justify that website. It's embarrassing and makes light of some extremely important issues that warrant discussion. Moreover it does nothing to affect vote totals, except in a negative way. I can't believe anyone thought that site was a good idea. It should be pulled immediately.

[Logical1]

Commander:

You missed the boat with your little diatribe...

The website in question is run by the party. All of your references are from comments made by individual people.

And about the party whining until the lid just about blows.... Hillary is the one that is going to blow her party by not stepping down. The Hillary-Obama battle is helping the Republican party. I think she is simply handing McCain the election and laying the groundwork for 2012.

[Commander In Chief]

Aaron:

Oh, I'm sorry, I failed to notice that Mr. Cheney is an individual. I was under the illusion he was the Vice President of the United States of America.
I was also under the illusion that delegates attending a Republican National Convention somehow, well, maybe possibly just in a tiny little bit of a way might just represent their party. No, I was wrong, they're individuals.
Individuals you can no more disown that you can disown your grandmother.
Are you disowning Cheney? Coulter? Purple heart band-aids?

[Aaron]

I just think the website is a bad idea. I think a good state party organization should lead by example.

I'm afraid you are reading other things in my posts I did not write. I don't think that's my problem.

[Hmm]

Much like another Commander-in-Chief, this CiC seems to also have difficulty comprehending the English language.