From my own memory I remember the public attacks on Reagan that were vicious, attacking nearly every policy as war-mongering, feeble-brained and/or destructive. I have read that on a personal level the parties got along very well, but the public square was nasty.

Reading through history shows similar battles in many eras, not the least of which led to the Civil War. I think that Mitchell is being short-sighted by suggesting that it started in the 90s with the Republicans coming to power. I will accept that it's the latest, but it takes 2 sides to make a fight and the Democrats must accept their share of the blame.

I mentioned the 40 years in power before and I believe this monopoly on power had a great deal to do with what came next. It is not healthy for a single ideology to have that much control for decades.

>>I have not read the book but I would ask if that tonal change has anything to do with the fact that Congress had been in Democratic party control for 40 years and they weren't happy or used to playing 2nd fiddle?
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>I think, if you look back, you'll find that the nasty behavior mostly _originated_ from the Republican side of the aisle. The Dems certainly learned to play the game fast, but they didn't start it.
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>Tamar
>
>>>>I'm not just addressing this post to you Mike. If anyone can help me please chime in.
>>>>
>>>>Please explain to me how our view of the utopian "bipartisanship" is reached.
>>>
>>>Last week, I read Andrea Mitchell's book "Talking Back." Among the things she discusses from her 40 years in the media is the change in civility that she saw in Congress in the 90's as part of the Republican Revolution.
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>>>Let me back up and say that having read the book, I do not know her politics. She's married, of course, to Alan Greenspan, and talks about social occasions with a lot of Republicans, including the Cheneys. So the book gave no reason to think the she's of a "Dems good; Republicans bad" frame of mind.
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>>>She talks about how prior to that time, there was a moderate group in both houses that helped get things down in a bi-partisan way. After that, the middle group disappeared (defeated or chose to leave), leaving us with the gridlock system we have now.
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>>>Tamar