How political opponents became enemies in the U.S.
An increasingly dark view of the opposition is now a dominant feature of our political landscape. According to the Pew Research Center, 45 percent of Republicans say that Democratic policies...
==========
>> Sreenivasan: WHEN IT COMES TO POLITICS, AMERICANS CAN BE QUITE UNKIND TO THEIR OPPONENTS. DURING THE ELECTION OF 1796, SUPPORTERS OF PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE JOHN ADAMS CLAIMED THAT BACKERS OF THOMAS JEFFERSON WERE "CUT-THROATS WHO WALK IN RAGS AND SLEEP AMID FILTH AND VERMIN." NOT TO BE OUTDONE, WHEN THE TWO MEN FACED OFF AGAIN IN 1800, A WRITER SECRETLY HIRED BY THOMAS JEFFERSON CALLED ADAMS "A HIDEOUS HERMAPHRODITICAL CHARACTER." THAT RHETORIC WAS ADVERSARIAL, AND NO DOUBT CONVEYED SOME GENUINE ANIMOSITY. BUT, NEWSHOUR WEEKEND SPECIAL CORRESPONDENT JEFF GREENFIELD WONDERS IF TODAY'S POLITICIANS HAVEN'T GONE INTO MORE DANGEROUS TERRITORY. >> Reporter: IT WAS JUST ONE LINE FROM SENATOR BOB DOLE'S...
==========
>> Sreenivasan: WHEN IT COMES TO POLITICS, AMERICANS CAN BE QUITE UNKIND TO THEIR OPPONENTS. DURING THE ELECTION OF 1796, SUPPORTERS OF PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE JOHN ADAMS CLAIMED THAT BACKERS OF THOMAS JEFFERSON WERE "CUT-THROATS WHO WALK IN RAGS AND SLEEP AMID FILTH AND VERMIN." NOT TO BE OUTDONE, WHEN THE TWO MEN FACED OFF AGAIN IN 1800, A WRITER SECRETLY HIRED BY THOMAS JEFFERSON CALLED ADAMS "A HIDEOUS HERMAPHRODITICAL CHARACTER." THAT RHETORIC WAS ADVERSARIAL, AND NO DOUBT CONVEYED SOME GENUINE ANIMOSITY. BUT, NEWSHOUR WEEKEND SPECIAL CORRESPONDENT JEFF GREENFIELD WONDERS IF TODAY'S POLITICIANS HAVEN'T GONE INTO MORE DANGEROUS TERRITORY. >> Reporter: IT WAS JUST ONE LINE FROM SENATOR BOB DOLE'S...
