DAN K. THOMASSON Nation needs civility of Ford

WASHINGTON -- There is legitimate concern that the split in this nation's political fabric is so deep and wide that whoever wins the presidential election will be unable to govern. To quote a late colleague about another election in a similar atmosphere: The winner might have done better in bankruptcy court.
Tragically, it is already too late for what this political season really needs -- a strong dose of good old Gerald Ford; that is to say, a major infusion of civility in a presidential election that is hitting new highs and lows in its negative intensity. Ford stepped in at a time of national turmoil to heal the wounds of Watergate and went down to narrow defeat two years later without uttering an unkind word about his opponent.
It is a lesson the current campaigns for the White House have ignored to the point there is grave danger that the day after Nov. 2 the residue of hate by both sides will be so thick as to stifle the initiatives needed to solve in a timely fashion a myriad of problems from Iraq to Medicare. The bitterness in the electorate rivals that of the Vietnam era. President Bush's opponents just don't dislike him, they despise him and the same is true of those who oppose John Kerry.
Outside groups
Feeding this angry fire is a steady stream of vitriol from a variety of "outside" groups who impugn Kerry's Vietnam experience and accuse Bush of shirking his duty in the National Guard. There seems to be a never ending supply of fuel for these privately funded assassins and in several cases both the Republicans and the Democrats have mistakenly endorsed their actions without considering the consequences.
The latest of these entries in the political demolition derby is a so-called documentary that Sinclair Broadcasting has decided to run on its 62 television stations even though it is perilously close to being an in-kind contribution to Bush. The Democratic Party has filed a complaint with the Federal Election Commission on those grounds. The piece reviews Kerry's anti-war appearances after returning from Vietnam in which he accused U.S. troops of regular atrocities in Vietnam. Veterans interviewed charge he caused hardships to American prisoners in North Vietnam and gave aid and comfort to the enemy.
Well, what goes around comes around and the Democrats' chances of doing anything about it are practically nonexistent at this stage, especially given the First Amendment complexities involved. Perhaps the Democrats should have anticipated this retaliation before promoting attacks on Bush's Guard record and hailing an earlier propaganda film, "Fahrenheit 9/11," by Michael Moore, that painted Bush as a boob and a dangerous incompetent.
This, of course, does not justify the Sinclair Broadcasting decision. The film adds nothing to the debate and would be lucky to sway a handful of votes, containing material reviewed ad nauseam during the past nine months.
Constant blame
Both the Bush and the Kerry camps can't seem to resist blaming each other for all the scurrilous allegations and then perpetuating them with new ones. The Democrats initial response to the Swift boat veterans was to accuse the White House of coordinating the attacks. The White House took the same tack with CBS's now infamous use of phony documents that purported to show Bush received favored treatment and shirked his duty in the National Guard.
Most disturbing about all this is the damage this incivility does to the political system generally. This atmosphere of animosity is not just limited to the presidential elections but spills over to the Congress and even state and local offices.
I can't help recalling many years ago sitting with Chairman Wilbur Mills of the Ways and Means Committee on a couch in the Speakers Lobby off the House floor discussing the future of a tax bill. Suddenly we were joined by Speaker John McCormick who ordered me to scoot to the center of the couch and then began chatting across me to Mills about House business. Suddenly, Ford, then Republican leader of the House, appeared in front of the couch and joined the conversation, making it bipartisan.
There was an unstated agreement that what I heard wouldn't be reported. But then not only was I too fascinated to move I knew that these were men of honor who treated me with the same kindness they always treated one another, no matter their differences. They trusted me but in particular they trusted one another. As a result, things got done.
XDan K. Thomasson is former editor of the Scripps Howard News Service.