Event at ASU focuses on solutions for breaking U.S. politics' stalemate

by Dianna M. Náñez - Sept. 23, 2011 12:00 AM

Civic leaders gathered Thursday at Arizona State University as part of a panel addressing the growing incivility in political discourse and how that has weakened congressional bipartisanship.

The panel was part of the 66th annual National Conference on Citizenship.

U.S. politics depends on fierce debate, but at the end of the day, Americans expect results, said former U.S. Sen. Bob Bennett of Utah. Instead, he said, Washington lawmakers remain entrenched in a stalemate on issues ranging from health care to the economy.

Bennett was one of four speakers at the Panel on Civility and Political Discourse who discussed solutions for moving the U.S. beyond partisanship. The panel was moderated by PBS anchor Aaron Brown at ASU's downtown Phoenix campus before an audience of about 60 people.

This is the first time the two-day conference has been held outside of Washington, D.C. The Center for the Future of Arizona , a non-profit led by former ASU President Lattie Coor, was selected to host the conference after beating nine other cities.

The Bipartisan Policy Center sponsored the panel in Arizona with the goal of reaching Americans outside the Beltway who are frustrated with today's hyperpartisan politics.

The panelists discussed qualities needed for successful civic leadership, historic bipartisan accomplishments and solutions for creating a political climate where leaders can reach compromise.

Following is a snapshot of the panelists' comments:

- Brown, PBS anchor and ASU Walter Cronkite professor of journalism:

"American politics has never been genteel, so what's the big fuss now?"

- Bennett, a Republican who served as a U.S. senator for 18 years:

"People won't get together after hours anymore. That's not the way it was. (Thomas) Jefferson and (Alexander) Hamilton hated each other . . . but they'd have dinner together and put their differences aside and everybody got what he wanted."

- State Sen. Kyrsten Sinema, D-District 15:

"The problem I think is . . . no longer are politicians rewarded for finding that middle ground. Most of the time, there's reward for not finding those solutions."

- Sally Rider, director of the William H. Rehnquist Center on the Constitutional Structures of Government at the University of Arizona College of Law:

"If it's substantive (discourse), it's not entertaining (in the 24-hour news cycle.) I think now when we have dialogue, it's not like two people speaking to each other - they're speaking past each other."

- Ted Simons, PBS Horizon host, on social-media platforms that allow people to criticize others anonymously:

"Now you can write 'you stink' in 47 languages. It sours the public discourse is what it does."