“I don’t know if it actually came up in a debate,” Bullock said.

In 1884, accusations were made that Grover Cleveland had fathered an illegitimate child.

Charles Sumner on the Senate floor in 1857 in the period leading to the Civil War, Bullock said. Preston Brooks, a Democrat from South Carolina, using a cane to beat Republican Sen. “It’s certainly more contentious than it would have been 30, 40, 60 years ago,” he said. The political climate in the country has been heated over the years, but not at the level seen today, said Charles Bullock, a political science professor at the University of Georgia. Jared Laughner, 22, who is accused in the shooting, reportedly has not been talking with law enforcement and there is no indication that the shooting was politically motivated. “It’s part of our job to meet with constituents,” he said. “We have to keep pushing, we have to debate, (but) do so in a way that preserves our democracy.”īishop said that he will continue to meet with the public but may have more security. is a very sad commentary on our body politic,” he said. “Our discourse and our manner of dealing with each other. While there will always be policy differences, Bishop said that Congress should find a way to work together. “There was a lot of angst and a lot of vitriol communications directed at our office and at other offices,” he said. While physical threats are rare, Bishop said that the level of political discourse has coarsened, particularly during the debate on the health care bill passed last year. First and foremost my prayers are with Congresswoman Giffords - Gabby, we call her Gabby - her family and staff, and all the other victims.” “She is a friend, a colleague in the (conservative Democratic group of) Blue Dogs. Gabrielle Giffords, was “devastating, and it should be devastating to every American,” Bishop said. The shooting Saturday in Tucson that left six dead and wounded 18 others, including U.S. Sanford Bishop said.īishop, D-Albany, who represented Colquitt County for many years until redistricting in 2007, said that direct physical threats are not a common occurrence. MOULTRIE - The motive of the shooter who killed six in Arizona is unknown, but the tragedy should serve as an occasion to lower the bitter political discourse in the country, U.S.

Moultrie observer