The Civility Project

I came across this article posted by an old coworker from The DeMoss Group in Atlanta. The owner of the PR agency I worked for in Atlanta, Mark DeMoss, has started a new "project."

Whatever your political position, I think this is a great idea. Check out the article below and the website www.thecivilityproject.com.

Odd couple wants civility in politics
By Christopher Quinn
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
Wednesday, February 18, 2009
Mark DeMoss, a Georgia publicist with roots in the religious right, and Lanny Davis, a former Clinton White House insider, have joined forces to try to stop the political blame-fests and name calling they believe are too common in politics.
DeMoss is on a mission, if not for God, for democracy.
“What is at stake is a real disenfranchisement of average people, for whom the political process becomes so distasteful that they want to disengage from it,” said DeMoss, founder of Duluth’s DeMoss Group, which has represented evangelical groups such as the Billy Graham Evangelistic Association.
His odd-couple partner Davis defended former President Bill Clinton during the Lewinsky scandal and campaigned for U.S. Sen. Hillary Clinton for president in 2008.
The two men launched their Civility Project on Jan. 18 after realizing they agree on two things: They have nearly nothing in common politically, and they both believe it is possible to have healthy debates or even stiff arguments without resorting to demonizing the other side.
“I’m not trying to put an end to partisanship,” DeMoss said. He is just trying to dial down the hate, like the kind of e-mails he got last year when he campaigned prominently for Mitt Romney in the Republican primary, DeMoss said. Romney is a Mormon. Mormons consider themselves Christian, but many Christians consider their denomination a cult. DeMoss has a collection of e-mails from fellow evangelicals castigating him for his association with Romney.
Later in the campaign, DeMoss noticed Davis’ professional demeanor when defending Sen. Clinton on news talk shows. Last summer he wrote Davis a letter one night, complimenting him on his behavior. The two men had never met.
The letter impressed Davis so much that he framed it and put it on his office bookshelf beside photos of himself and the Clintons.
DeMoss later called him and, at the end of 2008, the two were having lunch “in an increasingly uncivil town, Washington,” Davis said.
DeMoss pitched his idea of a Web site outlining some basic rules of civility where people check off a pledge to treat others with respect, even if disagreeing with them.
Davis, author of the book “Scandal: How Gotcha Politics is Destroying America,” said he and DeMoss are “singing out of the same hymn book.”
Argue with vigor, but stay away from insult, insinuations, and the devolved bickering that passes for debate, he said.
DeMoss said some may snicker at the idea that pledging to be more civil will have an impact.
“There’s a risk on both sides that it’s too simple to be taken seriously,” he said.
Davis pointed out the irony that it would probably get more attention if the two went at it tooth and nail.
“It’s a tough sell that we are not at each other’s throats,” he said.
Information: thecivilityproject.com