DeWine & Civility: Enacting the Change We Want to See in the World

The editorial below about DeWine and civility from Cincinnati Enquirer political columnist Jason Williams was reprinted in the Akron Beacon Journal today. It is a very good piece and the praise for Governor DeWine is deserved.

Building on Williams, I believe there are two additional lessons we can learn from DeWine here.

First, while Williams points out the courage shown by DeWine in defending Dr. Acton against protesters his point is too narrow. The courage here extends beyond one brave comment. The Governor’s decision to rely on Dr. Acton from the start of the crisis is where that courage begins because civility is also about attempting to speak truthfully.

It took courage for DeWine to listen to the science and speak truthfully knowing this might mean stoking the anger of our profoundly uncivil president whose incivility is deeply rooted in speaking without regard for the truth.

While I encourage Williams to broaden his lens here, it is also important to avoid conflating civility with any one-sides' claim to unique access to the Truth. The point here is an honest and transparent effort to attempt to speak truthfully. Without that, one can make no claim to civility. It is a foundational criteria key to understanding DeWine's civility here.

Second, Williams is smart to note that a leader at the end of his career might be more willing to enact this type of courage. (Though nearly all the Republicans retiring from Congress or near retirement age in Congress demonstrate that this alone is clearly insufficient for courage to emerge.)

And here I am not really disagreeing with Williams or even building on him, because my point is entirely speculative. It is true that good leaders act as Williams notes here.

But it is also worth considering that even a younger DeWine could have made the right political bet by being courageous here—he would have been very well positioned, given DeWine's astronomical performance numbers today, for a strong run at higher office.

The argument that courage and trying to speak truthfully are political suicide appears to be weak or inaccurate here and that is also an important lesson from observing DeWine.

Below is the Williams’ editorial in full. Well worth reading for many reasons, not the least of which is that he highlights the fact that civility is distinctly not about merely being more polite. His description emphasizes (to paraphrase MLK on power and love) that...

“Civility without contestation is sentimental and anemic, and contestation without civility is reckless and abusive.”

In appreciation of Gov. DeWine’s thick skin

As most Ohioans are now free to leave their homes and get back to work, it’s a good time to pause and appreciate something about Gov. Mike DeWine that maybe a lot of people haven’t noticed.

Actually, they probably have noticed, but not much has been said about his consistently calm and steady demeanor throughout this wild ordeal. Consider this column an appreciation of DeWine’s thick skin.

Everyone has rightfully paid more attention to DeWine’s decision-making over the past two months. The Republican has been lauded worldwide for many of those proactive decisions, initially on shutting down the state and then reopening it.

But DeWine has also taken a lot of heat – from an impatient public and lawmakers in his own party who think he’s been too cautious about the shutdown and from Democrats who didn’t like his about-face on face-mask requirements.

Regardless, DeWine has consistently handled the criticism with grace. Every time, all the time. He’s never lashed out in a press conference or on Twitter, and even the few times he’s noticeably been agitated, he’s remained professional.

That’s to be celebrated, especially under the intense pressure of daily press conferences and having to make major decisions that have great short-term and long-term impact on nearly 12 million people.

Civility is such a rare characteristic for so many in DeWine’s chosen profession these days. I shouldn’t even have to write this column.

DeWine’s demeanor should be the rule, but instead he’s a shining example of the exception.

If you question whether it’s genuine, take a look at what DeWine did a few weeks ago.

He called on the loud and vicious critics of state medical director Dr. Amy Acton to direct their anger solely at him. Seriously, who does that?

Most politicians are usually happy to deflect criticism onto an unelected administrator, bureaucrat or, heck, anyone other themselves. It’s a selfish nature that has poisoned politics.

But not DeWine, who said the “buck stops with me” and called on Acton critics to “come after me.” I greatly respect him for that.

I’ve both praised and criticized DeWine before. Neither he nor his team have called or tweeted at me, whether I’ve complimented the governor or called him out on a decision.

That says a lot about him.

In March, DeWine told Enquirer reporter Sharon Coolidge and me on our podcast that he doesn’t get caught up when the media and public is praising or criticizing him.

He said his wife, Fran, has helped him to develop such a level-headed approach to the feedback over his four decades in politics.

Some may say it’s easy for a politician nearing the end of his career to view criticism in such a way. If he’s not worried about his next job, they might say, then no need to worry about something negative being said or written that could be used in a future campaign attack ad.

But I see it as a characteristic of a confident and strong leader. Good leaders don’t get rattled and lose their temper in times of crisis.

Many politicians can’t even handle a critical adjective being written or said about them, let alone an entire tweet, column or story holding them accountable for something they’ve said or done.

Party affiliation doesn’t matter. Nor does it matter if they’re in the White House, on Capitol Hill, in the Statehouse or at City Hall, so few politicians truly understand that being accountable to the people is what they signed up for when they launched their campaigns.

It’s baffling sometimes how politicians seem to forget that they were elected by the people and are being paid by the people. Their hubris sometimes impedes their ability to grasp why anyone would question their decisions.

But not DeWine. He gets it.

Cincinnati Enquirer political columnist Jason Williams can be reached at jwilliams@ enquirer.com.