Fitzwater: Civility important in politics
It all started in New Hampshire and it could all end here as the Granite State is once again a mustwin for both Hillary Clinton and Donald Trump.
For Marlin Fitzwater, the timing couldn’t be better.
“New Hampshire is a perfect experimental setting for this to happen,” he said of the center at Franklin Pierce University in Rindge, N.H., named after him.
The Fitzwater Center for Communication — celebrating its 15th year — was established to educate “leaders of conscience in public communication.” That’s as important today as it was when Fitzwater served as press secretary to presidents Ronald Reagan and George H.W. Bush.
In Washington, D.C., last week, Fitzwater spoke about the need to keep the election civil — something that has been lacking at times since New Hampshire held the first-in-thenation primary Feb. 9.
“Civility is not just speaking out and being candid, it goes beyond that,” he said. “Public discussion is a good way to solve problems.”
He spoke following a forum on civility in politics at the Newseum in Washington this past Friday. The Newseum held a roundtable on the influence of social media in the race and the incivility on the campaign trail.
John Maynard, director of exhibit programming at the Newseum, began by asking questions on how 2016 has been truly different from other election years. The panelists all seemed to agree that incivility has been growing.
One panelist called it “the ugly undercurrent” of the race. With another saying the “elephant in the room” was GOP nominee Donald Trump and his hardball brand of politics.
Fitzwater, who attended the event and was honored after, praised the panel by saying: “The panel was so special because the timing was so great. Civility is important now with the election around the corner.”
Actually, six more days and counting.