“The scores this week show that panelists recognize the presence of dignity or contempt whether they agree with the speaker or not,” said Shriver, a co-creator of the Index. “And the comments support the view that a “dignity strategy” – searching for common interests and values, for example – can be much more appealing to voters than a contempt strategy, which demonizes opponents to energize supporters.”

“The scores this week are the strongest contempt scores yet registered by the National Citizens Panel,” said Shriver. “And they also have the highest bipartisan agreement on the scores themselves. It shows that people can recognize contempt even when it comes from their own side, and they see the damage it does.”

“When our political parties use the contempt strategy – demonizing their opponents to energize their supporters – it has an unintended effect,” said Shriver. “It turns away the voters they need to win. The candidate that can treat the other side with dignity has a better chance of winning the swing voters who may decide this election.”

National Citizens Panel finds that contempt continues to pervade political speech and damage national unity.