A national initiative to revive civility and respect in political talk is launching Wednesday at the Columbus Metropolitan Club.
The project includes Ohio and Iowa, both swing states, along with historically red Arizona and historically blue Maine.
Carolyn Lukensmeyer heads the National Institute for Civil Discourse at the University of Arizona, which has been working on this issue for six years. She says the goal is to help 100,000 citizens learn to improve public and political discourse.
“Not trying to force an agreement, not trying to force common ground, but just coming back to a place where we actually listen to one another and we actually respect each other,” she says.
The initiative will team up with more than 100 community organizations across the country. Lukensmeyer says she hopes to see the progress made with civility programs at the state level spread nationwide.
