What Is With the Horrible Political Group Chats?

This fall, there was widespread coverage of an outright horrible group chat involving numerous members of various Young Republican organizations. Politico detailed their racially charged messages.

Among the chats involved the [now former] nominee to head the Office of Special Counsel, “an independent federal agency that protects federal employees from prohibited personnel practices, particularly retaliation against whistleblowers.” That guy texted he had a “Nazi streak,” whatever that is.

As The Hill reported before he withdrew his nomination, “The Republican backlash to [Office of Special Counsel nominee Paul] Ingrassia came in reaction to reporting he made racist comments in a text chat with a group of Republican operatives.

Senate Republicans, including House Majority Leader John Thune, already uneasy with his nomination before this new revelation, publicly called for the White House to withdraw this nomination. Days later, Ingrassia withdrew his nomination.

After that initial group chat story broke, the New York GOP went so far as to completely disband their Young Republican organization and will seek to reboot it later. Many of the Young Republicans involved in the hateful chat group have lost their staff jobs and one, a Vermont state Senator, resigned after the state’s Republican Gov. Phil Scott demanded he do so.

I’m under no delusion that this type of terrible, unprofessional behavior only exists on one side of the political spectrum. I’m also of the age that when my political career began, we had to talk to each other in person, or on the (landline) phone to commiserate – the pros, and cons, of living in an analog world.

Conference calls were a newish wonder that rarely worked, and of course everyone talked over each other anyway. Blast faxes, which were then coming into vogue, were one-way communications.

Years later, I managed a statewide campaign in 2004 with a strict rule to my younger staffers: Don’t text me – email me. They all texted each other, of course.

And when my kids came of age, they were under strict instructions to use actual English and complete sentences when they texted me and/or their mother.

Wanting to be in with the cool kids, I’m now in group chats. One that particularly comes to mind is with my three closest college roommates/housemates. We had a collegial back and forth just recently about our differing opinions on the Trump’s immigration plan/actions.

I even sent them the RealClearPennsylvania piece I had recently written, “Trump’s Friction of Strategy vs. Tactics,” which dealt with the immigration issue. We had a robust and collegial time going back and forth on this topic, but of course we are all the same age … and only I work in politics. The other three are civilians.

During my 18-year association with U.S. Sen. Arlen Specter’s political operation, it was SOP (standard operating procedure) not to say or do anything that you wouldn’t want to see plastered across the front page of the Philadelphia Inquirer. And his official staff, both in the state and in Washington, worked under the same directive.

So why would those Young Republicans, some on staff to elected officials, text in such reckless ways? Talking is a less strenuous form of communication than texting: You must think what you want to text and then text it. You are actually typing each letter of each hateful word.

The website Despair.com sells de-motivational posters and my favorite is perhaps on point here. It depicts four hands clasping wrists in a square, with this headline:

“No one of us is as dumb as all of us.”

Though the version I had many years ago said “stupid,” not dumb. Progress.

None of us is as stupid as all of us. The perils of Groupthink.

As one essay on Medium observed, “In a society where progress and innovation hinge on the intellectual capabilities of its people, it is disheartening to witness the systemic and cultural forces undermining the potential of America’s brightest young minds.” The writer adds: “This silent ‘war’ is not fought with weapons, but with educational neglect, societal pressures, and cultural trends that prioritize conformity over critical thinking and creativity. The result is a generation at risk of intellectual stagnation, emotional distress, and missed opportunities for America.”

Some, including the vice president, have tried to dismiss these text chains as some sort of youthful indiscretion. But these folks are in their late twenties and even early thirties and in leadership positions.

But face it: these types of party auxiliary groups – on both sides of the political aisle – often attract a special type of zealot.

Let’s hope these recent public revelations squash out this type of behavior. If you got involved in politics to help organize your disparagement (or hatred) of certain groups, please go find another hobby.