Agree to Disagree: A note to DC's Political Leaders
It’s time to come together in our disagreement. While a bullet narrowly missed former President Donald Trump, America’s been hit head-on with a monumental choice: Will we turn down the heat on our divisive rhetoric? Or, will we let the pot of political hate boil over?
Our nation stands at a crossroads and the people who have the power to change their ways and guide us reside in this town. History will remember those who choose the path of civility in this moment.
Our divided nation is the symptom of years of growing hostility across party lines in Washington, D.C. Our political leaders have taught the general electorate that you should love your neighbor… if they agree with you politically. This rhetoric tears apart families, communities, and our country.
As a former Congressional staffer who recently spent three years on the Hill, I witnessed firsthand the division and self-segregation based on party inside Congress. The ‘us versus them’ mindset torched most opportunities for bipartisan relationships and collaboration became a niche concept.
Watching this invasive, toxic partisanship take over, I wanted to take a solutions-oriented approach. In 2022, I launched CNCT focusing on creating opportunities for community, professional development, and bipartisanship for those working in politics.
My hypothesis was that if we invest in the growth of the youngest generation of political staffers, who are bound to be D.C.’s future leaders, we can create a generation of politicos who understand how to further their political agenda without disparaging their colleagues in the process.
In the past two years, we’ve noticed that an open mindset and a willingness to respect those who disagree with us yields overwhelmingly positive results. Open, civil dialogues with those from across the aisle led to connections made over non-political interests and, just like that, staffers started to see their “enemies” become their friends.
With the dark reality of an assassination attempt on a former (and possibly future) president still hanging over the nation, efforts like the ones being made by CNCT users and readers are needed now more than ever - and on a larger scale. What has started as a bipartisan movement with junior Congressional staffers, is now critical for everyone in politics to adopt.
Each of us has an obligation to resasses how we treat those that we see as different from us. Individually we must all step up and put an end to the divisive rhetoric that has become the preferred route in politics.
It is possible to bring about change on a one-to-one basis. But, apart from what we can do on an individual level, we need our political leaders to change how they talk about policies, parties, and the people behind both. As the saying goes, the fish rots from the head; however, the solution must come from the top as well.
The hateful rhetoric and demonization of opinions different from our own must stop and we challenge D.C.’s political leaders to take it a step further: change how you disagree.
Disagreement is vital for growth and differing ideas move us forward. But, many of our political leaders have proven they are amateurs at the art of disagreement. We implore these leaders to look to their younger staff using CNCT and witness the bipartisan connections they are making and take note. Learn to disagree with grace and respect or step aside so the next generation of leaders can show you.
The opportunity to change has never been more attainable. This tragic, yet historic, moment in time will be defined by what comes next. D.C. is a town of influential people who have consistently chosen the difficult path and achieved. While loving those who love you and hating your enemy is easy, the difficult path before us now is loving those who may hate us or our viewpoint.
As leaders in Washington, the world is looking to you for how to respond. Show them what civility looks like and exemplify what it means to agree to disagree.
- David Tennent, Founder of CNCT
If you are a political staffer who is interested in messages like this one as well as bipartisan staffer communities, join CNCT here.