Better Angels Members Tom Smerling, Jim Carpenter, and Natalie Abbas 11/9 – Success Happens – Omny.fm

Jim Carpenter Frederick Organizer Natalie Abbas Frederick Organizer Tom Smerling Maryland State Coordinator The Problem of Polarization: Political polarization did not start with the 2016 election — it’s been gaining momentum for over 20 years. But with the rancor and divisiveness that has been on display in recent years, polarization may have reached its worst level in the United States since the Civil War. Today, many believe that their political adversaries are not simply misguided, but that they are also bad people whose ways of thinking are both dangerous and incomprehensible. As Charles Krauthammer once noted, “Conservatives think Liberals are stupid, Liberals think Conservatives are evil!” The Pew Research Center, which has been measuring political polarization in the United States since 1994, recently found that the average partisan gap has increased from 15 percentage points to 36 points. The United States is disuniting. We’re becoming two Americas angry with the other and distrusting our opposites’ basic humanity and good intentions. This degree of civic rancor threatens our democracy and it’s a trend we must reverse!