Actions speak louder than words: one great example of role modeling civil discourse

Over the weekend, a lone gunman attempted to assassinate former President Donald Trump. Violence has no place in our political process. Period. I wrote this post before the events of July 13, 2024, and the recent horrifying news makes it ever more important that candidates and leaders of all stripes and backgrounds speak out against violence publicly and in no uncertain terms. It’s also critical to avoid spreading misinformation or messages that bad actors use to divide us. Our political process and democracy depend on our ability to remember that there is more that unites us than divides us, and we must reaffirm our commitment to a peaceful political process.

Read on for a call to action to respond to the events of July 13 and to secure peaceful elections up and down the ballot this year.

In May, I wrote about seven actions that leaders can take to build civil discourse and reduce civil discord. Today, I’m highlighting one action in particular:  

Send the right signals and show the way. Right now, campus coverage and spokespeople who are feeding that coverage are overly focused on the outliers creating havoc and violence, such as the recent circumstances at UCLA. But rather than showing what you’re against, it’s just as important to show what you’re for. Normalize the work of dialogue and exchange in civic spaces and role model the ground rules you’re trying to set.

This week I read in The Washington Post about how more than 70 organizations and their leaders, led by the presidential centers for Jimmy Carter and Gerald Ford, are doing just that: creating “Candidate Principles for Trusted Elections.” These five core principles — integrity, nonviolence, security, oversight and the peaceful transfer of power — help candidates role model the ground rules we should all value for our elections.

For example, by honoring Core Principle 1 — “honest process” — candidates pledge to “cooperate with election officials, adhere to rules and regulations, and refrain from knowingly propagating falsehoods about the electoral process.” We know from the events of Jan. 6, 2021, that propagating falsehoods has dangerous consequences for our policymakers, law enforcement and democracy. In my post from May, I wrote about the importance of starving disinformation of oxygen by refusing to spread it. By pledging to refrain from spreading such falsehoods, candidates are taking an active role to prevent civil discord.

In another example, Core Principle 2 — “civil campaign” — candidates pledge to “encourage a peaceful election atmosphere during the pre-election, polling, counting, and post-election periods. Denounce any attempt to intimidate, harass, threaten or incite violence against opponents, their supporters, and election workers.” Establishing ground rules for how people can engage in conversation about the election, starting with emphasizing the need for respect and understanding, is essential to building healthy civil discourse.

More than leaders signing the pledge, I am interested in seeing them act on it — taking actions like:

• Asking their supporters to thank, not harass, election workers for volunteering their time when supporters go to vote.
• Promoting accurate, responsible coverage about their own electoral race and other races (like the presidential election).
• Encouraging supporters to treat opponents and journalists with respect and engage in healthy civil discourse.

Check here whether your candidates have taken the pledge, and if they haven’t already, use the social media tools at principledcandidates.org to encourage them take the pledge. Also, as a leader, consider how you can role model ground rules that keep our civic spaces, like voting places, safe and sound. For example, last week in Wyoming, 15 clergy members and faith leaders in Wyoming wrote to the governor, legislative leaders and the University of Wyoming president and denounced antisemitic and anti-LGBTQ+ rhetoric and calls for violence, and they called for other leaders to join them.

If you’ve seen examples of how we can learn to plan for the best-case scenario rather than the worst when it comes to civic engagement, share with the BEST-CASE SCENARIO team at Spitfire Strategies. To learn more about this project, check out past blogs or contact civicspaces@spitfirestrategies.com.