Rival pollsters reveal secrets to getting Washington to work again

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Then he added to laughter from his guests, “I’m going to stop there and get started because I’m sure this is going to go very quickly, and everyone is going to agree on everything.”

A day later, when the new Battleground Civility Poll was released by the Georgetown Institute of Politics and Public Service, it confirmed why the president’s words and even his Inaugural Address call for unity were pipe dreams. Continuing a trend in the recent versions of the poll, most feel there’s a 70% chance of a new civil war over politics.

But instead of giving in to the doom, Battleground pollsters Ed Goeas and Celinda Lake seized on the minority hope for a new era of civility and respect.

“We recognize that it can be immensely challenging and unsettling to the first actor in a political or policy battle to embrace civility and respect without knowing if your opponent will reciprocate. However, this data makes clear that voters are ready and quite willing to embrace candidates and leaders who embrace these values,” said Goeas. “Much of politics is finding effective ways to communicate with voters to win their support, and embracing civility and respect will be met warmly by voters across the political, ideological, and economic spectrum,” he added.

Lake said, “There is an immense opportunity to step forward and work together. … If anything is going to get done to help Americans who are desperately in need, it must be done together, and these data reveal an earnest calling to work together in the name of respect and rejecting violence.”

They should know. Both are partisan pollsters, Goeas a Republican, Lake a Democrat. But over 31 years of collaboration on the Battleground Poll, they’ve developed a level of civility and respect for each other that has now resulted in a book on how Washington can try to get things done.

In A Question of Respect, the duo review how politicians especially and even regular Americans can work together on issues. Some are old tricks, such as getting together for drinks and dinner. Others are calls to pull easy punches.

Their book, just released by Morgan James Publishing, is sure to be praised in Washington, where politicians and media often mouth the word “unity” then laugh, just like Biden and congressional leaders did in their Tuesday huddle in the Roosevelt Room.

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But in the end, as their long friendship sprung at a piano bar in Budapest demonstrates, it might work its way into the city’s and nation’s psyche and have an impact over time.

“We still have areas of disagreement. We always will. But we will always hear each other out. We will not be angry, insulting, or dismissive. We will bring our respect for each other to every interaction, every poll we do together,” they wrote, concluding, “Hopefully, after reading this book, you will feel the same about those in your life and on your ballots.”