TRAVERSE CITY, Mich. (AP) — Four men described by prosecutors as radicals who schemed to kidnap Michigan Gov. Gretchen Whitmer are on trial in a federal courthouse named for Gerald R. Ford, a political Mr. Nice Guy revered for moderation and bridge-building after the Watergate scandal.
To some extent, the jarring contrast reflects the direction politics and public discourse have taken since the former president represented the Grand Rapids area in Congress — and particularly in recent years.
Anger and intense partisanship tearing the U.S. social fabric are showing up in western and northern Michigan, where the trial’s jurors live, despite the area’s longtime reputation for Midwestern congeniality.
“The natural tendency toward civility that government has always tried to promote has diminished incredibly,” said Bill Rustem, a veteran GOP political operative and aide to several Michigan governors. “Instead of a rational debate over policy, it’s becoming who’s tougher, who’s stronger, who can be the bigger bully.”