Kansas City Progressives Doubt Republican Political Civility Overtures

Friday follow-up . . .

Our blog community doubted a recent bi-state feel good commercial.

Now . . . The newspaper offers even more reason to doubt efforts encouraging amicable disagreement going into an election year . . .

"First, it’s relatively easy for Kelly and Parson to be civil to each other. They might be from different parties, but they also live and govern on different sides of the state line. The two governors don’t compete with each other for political power or have to put their differing philosophies on abortion, taxes and public education to test against each other.

"It’s easy to be civil when there’s not much at stake, when there are no winners or losers. The ad might have been more impressive if Kelly was sharing barbecue and good feelings with Kansas Attorney General Kris Kobach, the Republican she defeated in 2018 to become governor.

"That would be something.

"Another reason for skepticism: It’s not clear the commitment to civility goes both ways. The National Governors Association “Disagree Better” initiative offers a host of resources on civil debate — including a link to the nonpartisan Common Ground Scorecard, which ranks public officials on their willingness to engage in “listening and productive conversation” across party lines.

"Kelly scored 80 points on the scorecard’s matrix. Parson received zero."

Read more via www.TonysKansasCity.com link . . .

Parson-Kelly 'Disagree Better' ad is a great idea. But civility has to go both ways | Opinion

Kansas' Democratic governor wins 80 points on the nonpartisan Common Ground Scorecard. Her Missouri GOP counterpart gets zero. | Opinion