Voters can blunt political extremes, Washington columnist tells Bryant audience

SMITHFIELD, R.I. -- Journalist A.B. Stoddard has worked for years in Washington, D.C., where "everything is pretty awful," she told an audience at Bryant University Friday afternoon.

Stoddard, associate editor and columnist for RealClearPolitics, has covered Congress since 1994, working for States News Service, The Hill newspaper, and ABC News along the way.

Speaking at Bryant's Hassenfeld Institute for Public Leadership, Stoddard made the case for voters to support politicians who work to solve problems, rather than blame others. She pointed to Governor Gina Raimondo as a "terrific example" of the former kind of leader.

Her June 29 column showed she thinks the president is a member of the latter category: "Eighteen months into his presidency, with the clock ticking, everyone else may be waiting for the master negotiator to deliver but Donald Trump isn’t even pretending anymore," she wrote. " ... The grueling work of assembling coalitions, making concessions, bridging divided GOP factions or -- Lord forbid -- reaching across the aisle are simply not endeavors in which Trump chooses to invest his time. Plus, building trust, keeping your word and giving ground are weak and boring."

Stoddard said this past "interesting week" at the Supreme Court illustrates "how dug in both sides are" in this polarized political environment. She said she believes 70 percent of the American electorate is more or less centrist, while the extreme right and left each account for about 15 percent. She said more vigorous primary elections might help to "flush out the extremists" in both parties.

She added that for many years, members of Congress have been largely unwilling to check the power of the executive branch when the president is also a member of their party. That is especially evident today, Stoddard said, and it remains to be seen whether the Republican Party will pay the price in November.

Asked about the media's role in the election of Trump, Stoddard said the growth of "partisan media" means that for many people, there is "no longer a shared set of facts," and this "is really frightening." For instance, some people criticize journalists who report how often Trump lies, calling these reporters anti-Trump, she said. But the journalists are just doing their jobs, she said.

Stoddard said that "in the mainstream media, we make mistakes," but "we are called to account for them."

"The media is under a lot of pressure to get it right, keep it straight and keep people coming back," she said. Journalists have a "serious and sober responsibility," Stoddard added. "We're vital to this process." 

-cdunn@providencejournal.com

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