Tag: Lexington, Kentucky

Exposure to incivility can reduce trust in government, belief in institutional legitimacy and media credibility while further polarizing citizens politically. My own work finds that when people are exposed to political incivility, they’re likely to respond in kind. Some watched a 45-second news clip that was civil, while others saw a clip in which opponents interrupted and insulted one another. Eight percent of participants who watched the civil clip used some form of incivility in their comment — insulting the speakers’ views and calling them names. I found that as well. The participants in my experiment who watched incivility were a little ruder in their responses — but also much more likely to offer opinions about the topic discussed in the clip than those who watched a more civil clip, by 33 percent to 11 percent. On Twitter, people were quick to argue that the White House and the Republican Party are supporting a double standard. As political scientist Bryan Gervais showed, people exposed to incivility from the other party were angrier and more likely to respond with similar incivility. We then asked participants about a variety of attitudes, including whether the comments struck them as uncivil. By contrast, civil nonviolent protest has at times been labeled “uncivil” to diminish it.

Amy McGrath, a retired Marine fighter pilot, won the Lexington-area 6th District contest and is now poised to take on Republican Rep. Andy Barr in a red-leaning district that Democrats hope will shift in their favor in November's midterm elections. I am ready to help Amy and I want all of you to join me. The win for McGrath is the latest evidence of a political climate in which voters are eager to cast out those they see as figures of the political establishment. It also showed the strength of female candidates amid the "Me Too" movement. McGrath told CNN on Sunday that Gray is a "sort of standard politician. He's a good guy and he's a good public servant. There's a sense of, he's not right, right now. "It's more, this time, this climate, right now," she said. It's very clear that people are really interested in candidates who aren't necessarily -- that didn't grow up within the political party." Gray was recruited by the Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee, but over the course of the campaign some Democratic strategists came to view McGrath as the stronger national candidate.