David Marshall: The next jurors are the American voters

(TriceEdneyWire.com)—During a television interview, a Republican lawmaker was once asked is there anything about then-President Barack Obama you liked. He quickly responded, by stating he liked the fact that Obama was a family man. The same sentiment was reinforced years earlier by former Senator John McCain during the 2008 presidential campaign. During an October 10, 2008, town hall event in Lakeville, Minnesota, a person in attendance told McCain that she could not trust Obama. The woman called Obama “an Arab” at the height of the conspiracy theory movement claiming Obama was not a natural-born citizen and therefore ineligible to be president. “No ma’am, he’s a decent family man, citizen, that I just happen to have disagreements with on fundamental issues, and that’s what this campaign is all about,” McCain said to the town hall crowd. The exchange came to be viewed as a defining moment in McCain’s long political career. The Washington Post named it one of McCain’s most courageous political moments. The exchange illustrates how political opponents on the campaign trail can maintain degrees of respect and civility toward each other. Unfortunately, our political environment has evolved. The idea of maintaining basic respect and civility among lawmakers is no...