Here & Now

Political Scientist Talks About Elections In La Crosse

Freyberg:

Our next guest has been watching the politics at the top of the ticket on down and has some thoughts on civil discourse. He’s UW La Crosse political science professor, Tim Dale. Thank you so much for being here.

Tim Dale:

Thanks for having me.

Freyberg:

So, in fact, you actually did a teach-in at UW La Crosse on civil discourse. What was the takeaway of that?

Dale:

Well, a lot of the students at the university, this is their first election that they’re voting in. This is the first time they’re voting in a presidential race. And as we know, the presidential race is very heated. It’s a heated time in politics. So a lot of students are having questions. Is it always this nasty? How do I have arguments with my friends and still maintain friendships? So we decided at the university it would be a good idea to have a discussion about how to have political conversations and remain friends with the people that you have political conversations with. It’s not always modeled in politics. And really the takeaway is that even though it looks in an election time like politics is about winners and losers and really who makes the most aggressive or assertive argument and turns off the most people, politics is much more about things like listening and mutual respect. So the work of democracy really happens much more in conversation with people outside of the context of elections. And it just so happens that during election time, we get really the worst of politics in terms of where people are turned off.

Freyberg:

Inside the context of this very election, at the presidential level though, why is there so much anger and vitriol?

Dale:

Well, I think part of it has to do with the candidates. We have two candidates at the top of the ticket for president that are really looking at historic lows in terms of people who find them an appealing candidate. So the people who tend to be voting on either side, really are doing so in a sense in response to the other candidate, more so than they are embracing the candidate. And I think likability in that way is something that’s really feeding into the negativity at the national level.

Freyberg:

Does all of that leave down ballot people running for office replicating that or trying to rectify it?

Dale:

Well, it’s interesting, because this year I think we actually have seen some movement away from that. And so we not only see some movement away from the national candidates, we see some movement away from the negativity of the national candidates. One of the things about local races and state races is that candidates typically have to see each other a lot more. They appear on shows like yours, they sit next to each other, and so the humanity really comes out a lot more in the debates. And I think that definitely lends itself to a more civil discussion. But it’s also about issues that people care about at the local level. They’re running for office in a place where they know their neighbors. They know their friends. So I think people are turned off a lot more quickly at the local level by negativity in politics. So for local and state races, I think there is a lot more caution around that kind of thing.

Dale:

Well, in fact, we just had two state senate candidates sitting very close to each other and they were very civil. So in terms of the issues in this local community, what rises to the top for people?

Freyberg:

One of the things that’s interesting about the state of Wisconsin is that both Hillary and Trump lost by 13 points in the state of Wisconsin. So all across Wisconsin, we really see a microcosm of what’s happening across the country, which is that voters are dissatisfied with the national parties and in the state, I think it really requires people and candidates to talk directly to the interest of what the voters are asking about. Which is what the proper role of government is? What the job of state government is? Really, where their money should be spent in terms of investing in the future? And so I think that’s where real substantive issues play a role in local races and I think people are really happy to see the local candidates talking about those issues.

Freyberg:

Right, Tim Dale, great. Thank you very much.

Dale:

Thanks for having me.