Civics with civility

It’s great to see two of Northwest Arkansas’ federal representatives in the area this week to hold town hall-style meetings to hear from constituents and to give those constituents a chance to hear directly from their members of Congress.

U.S. Rep. Steve Womack of Rogers ginned up a crowd of about 200 people Tuesday morning in West Fork. U.S. Sen. Tom Cotton, after a lot of location shuffling to accommodate the expected attendance, will hold a town hall meeting at 5 p.m. today at the Pat Walker Performing Arts Center at Springdale High School.

The overflow crowd at West Fork City Hall was a mix of people — some there to encourage Womack’s support of conservative and/or GOP values, others to push him to get President Trump under control, and still others vehemently against Trump’s ideas who expected Womack to explain them. All in all, the atmosphere of the discussion was tense.

There’s no reason to believe Cotton’s event today will be more tame. In the eyes of many, Cotton falls to the right of the already-right Womack. He lacks no confidence in his views. Those views appear to sit well with at least a majority of Arkansans, but they are anathema to others.

We credit both Womack and Cotton for taking the time for these sorts of public sessions. Yes, they do owe it to their constituents, but there’s no requirement that they hold them. We appreciate when they open themselves to questions and take the opportunity to defend or explain their approaches to the political matters on Capitol Hill affecting the folks back home. Both men, when given a chance, can do a better job articulating policy and ideas than our current president.

We encourage people to embrace the chance to engage — in conversation, not antagonistic behaviors. Ask questions, but let answers happen. Don’t seize every opening to begin a chant or shout agreement or disagreement. How about treating these representatives the same way you’d like to be treated if you faced a room full of people? How about not wasting valuable time so that more citizens have a chance to ask their questions or make their comments?

From Tuesday’s Womack event, former candidate for the state House of Representatives Irvin Camacho of Springdale tweeted a photo of a man speaking with Womack outside his event. Camacho added this text: “This constituent did not want to shake Steve Womack’s hand. He is all of us.”

We hope Camacho is wrong.

It’s unfortunate Camacho should want to celebrate and encourage uncivil behavior. It’s unfortunate some people of differing political views cannot view each other first as fellow Arkansans or, at the least, as fellow human beings deserving of at least a minimal level of grace and civility. Even Menachem Began and Enwar El Sadat shook hands.

These politicians are big boys. They can handle tense situations. Womack and Cotton have served in the military in the Middle East, so facing a roomful of frustrated constituents isn’t going to hurt their feelings. We’re not advocating all this to make them comfortable. What we recommend is an effort to engage that is fruitful for understanding how our representatives explain themselves and for constituents to communicate their own thoughts to those representatives. It’s hard for that to happen in a room of shouted voices.

Because what’s important is that these representatives have the opportunity to hear what their constituents are saying. Just not all at once, unless it’s on Election Day.