Dear John:

24%. Nearly 1 in 4!

That's the number, according to a recent Elway poll, of Washingtonians who have stopped talking with either a friend or relative "because of politics."

I think that's tragic.

Here's what I know: Democracy cannot survive that level of division.

Working across differences is hard, very hard. But in an increasingly pluralistic society, that's exactly what we have to do in order to move our country forward and solve problems.

That's part of why our office joined in partnership with others to form the Project for Civic Health. We believe we all need to roll up our sleeves and figure out how to have more respectful discourse in the public square. We need to figure out how to talk to our friends and family about our political differences. Without yelling or name calling. And we need to stop hating each other simply because we disagree.

There are a lot of efforts and ideas attempting to approach this problem. One such idea is to get the legislature itself more involved in thinking about civic health and generating suggestions. And, more importantly, talking out loud about it! That's why our office requested that the legislature form a strictly bipartisan group — a Joint Committee on Civic Health — to do just that.

Last week, the measure, Senate Concurrent Resolution 8414 if you want to track it, passed out of committee unanimously. We are encouraged, but as the poet Robert Frost famously said, "miles to go before we sleep."

I am genuinely and deeply worried about our civic health. A healthy democracy cannot be taken for granted. Indeed, every generation must renew its commitment to democracy. It seems to me that we owe this to those who came before, sacrificing so much on our behalf, and to those who will come after.

After the Constitutional Convention in 1787, Benjamin Franklin was asked, "Doctor, what have we got? A republic or a monarchy?" To which he responded, "A republic, if you can keep it."

Which is all to say, I am grateful the Senate took a step forward this week. Again, however, miles to go. . .

Denny
Paid for by Heck for Lt. Governor (D)

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