Ex-Lawmakers to 2010 Candidates: Behave!

130 former legislators calls for civility on Capitol Hill in letter

By Nick McMaster, Newser Staff

Posted Oct 4, 2010 7:57 PM CDT

Copied

Ex-Lawmakers to 2010 Candidates: Behave! — The U.S. Capitol is seen behind a security gate prior to President Barack Obama's State of the Union address to a joint session of Congress in Washington, Wednesday, Jan. 27, 2010. (AP)

More than 130 former members of Congress banded together to offer a message to 2010 congressional candidates via letter: Stop the "zero-sum game" partisanship that has paralyzed the legislative branch. So many former lawmakers have never spoken with one voice to all congressional candidates, but they felt prodded by the "sorry state of affairs" on Capitol Hill, in which "the goal often seems to be more to devastate the other side than to find common ground to solve problems,” Politico reports.

Former Members of Congress for Common Ground, the group that organized the letter, is led by former Reps. John Porter and David Skaggs—a Democrat and a Republican. Without naming names, the group laments the fact that: "Members who far exceed the bounds of normal and respectful discourse are not viewed with shame but are lionized, treated as celebrities, rewarded with cable television appearances and enlisted as magnets for campaign fundraisers.”
(More GOP stories.)

Report an error