Jack’s Angle: Election dialogue is pretty bad, and it’s going to get worse – John J. “Jack” Partridge

by John J. “Jack” Partridge, contributing writer, commentary

Only the other day, I remarked how much I enjoy Olympic coverage – so far removed from Politics, and as soon as I did, there appeared a Sheldon Whitehouse advertisement of his stand on abortion! Can we have no respite? And that was followed by a Harris advertisement on the same topic.  Is it too much to ask candidates to keep to the day’s news and keep an event like the Olympics free from political agendas? Is the search for eyeballs without limit? And what is Vance trying to say about families and kids and single women? I can’t follow it all. And it just gets worse.

This week there was a ZOOM call for “White men for Kamala” – actually named “White Dudes for Harris”. Can you even imagine a candidate using race so mindlessly? I understand a minority group getting together, History being what it is. But I cringe at one that clearly is nasty when the white majority is called together by race and sex. Adolf, where are you? Would George Wallace have approved of this election gambit? What a racist Business. 

It just gets worse, somehow, with all the name calling on both sides and partisan calls are echoing everywhere, and the media repeats every one ad nauseum. Even the calls for civility seem now to be acerbic and only a step away from name calling. A calm that I hoped would occur after the assassination attempt was short and weak.

And incumbents as officeholders who, in particular, should be respectful of dialogue and provide a civic leadership example seem unable or unwilling to do so. I do know that American elections, particularly in the era of Jefferson and Jackson were fought with nasty accusations and falsehoods, but that is no excuse for what we see and hear today. Playing a race card is always despicable under all circumstances. We are better than that. I remain hopeful that our people are better than these candidates with their media gurus’ willingness to play fast and loose with the public about their opponents.

How the average voter is reacting to the mess remains unknown, and I await some polling data to be informative. I tend to believe that the tone of public speech will remain coarse, but that its usefulness will diminish as the public tires of it as we near Election Days, and could turn off many undecided voters. Maybe to the point of not casting ballots; which would be a shame. 

So, if you are getting angry about the disrespect we are getting from the nominated candidates, remember to bring your pen to your polling place for a write-in of a deserving name.

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To read more columns by Jack Partridge, go to: https://rinewstoday.com/our-team/john-j-jack-partridge/

John J. ‘Jack’ Partridge, is a retired lawyer and Senior Counsel to the firm of Partridge Snow & Hahn LLP, with four offices in Rhode Island and Massachusetts.A Pawtucket native, Jack graduated from St. Raphael Academy and summa cum laude of Providence College, where he majored in history. After Harvard Law School, he served in the United States Army in Vietnam, where he was awarded the Joint Service Commendation Medal. In 1967, he joined the firm of Tillinghast Collins & Tanner. In 1988, he became a founding partner of Partridge Snow & Hahn LLP.

Jack has been engaged in many civic, political, governmental, and business organizations, serving as legal counsel to the Greater Providence Chamber of Commerce for 27 years and was chairman of the Old Slater Mill Association, Common Cause Rhode Island, and Memorial Hospital of Rhode Island.

He is the co-founder of The Pawtucket Foundation and an officer and director of innumerable not-for-profit entities. He served as a member of the Board of Directors of the Pawtucket Boys & Girls Club and was Treasurer of the Ocean State Charities Trust.

Jack has a long history of leadership involvement with Providence College, which recognized him in 1999 with the Providence College Alumni Association Recognition Award for Public and Community Service, and in 2011, with an honorary Doctor of Laws degree.

He is married to the former Regina McDonald and has three children: Sarah, Gregory and David.