United States Senator Barbara Mikulski publicly stated what many Americans have been talking about following the last couple of Republican Presidential debates where the candidates have been caught up in a back and forth of insults and crude references.
She said, " I don't know about you, but I'm really concerned about the vulgarity that this Presidential campaign has descended into... If we demean the process of choosing a President, we demean the Presidency itself.
Mikulski, a Democrat and a supporter of Hillary Clinton spoke at a "Women in Leadership" forum at the Edward M. Kennedy Institute for the United State's Senate where her former and current Senate Colleagues shared similar sentiments about the state of the race.
Senator Susan Collins, a Republican from Maine said, "People within the body are denigrating the institution."
Former Senator Blanche Lincoln said, "The expectation now is that it's a reality TV show. It's not talking about the issues necessarily, it's who can out-scream the other candidates."
The rhetoric has gotten so outrageous that many are concerned about what all of this is saying to young people.
Democratic political analyst Jesse Mermell says, “It pains me to think about what an eight year old little boy or girl might be absorbing if they are watching people like Donald Trump or the folks on the Republican ticket just taking things into the gutter the way they talk about politics and public service.”
Mermell says politicians should be inspiring young people to serve and appealing to their higher angels.
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But instead, Jennifer Pagan who works with the Chica Project says it can be demoralizing for the young Latina women she works with.
Pagan said, “Definitely depressing because people aren't paying attention to important social topics and just paying attention to what Trump is saying and what kind of comments he's going to make or his behavior.”
Mermell added, “Things have really crossed the line this season and my hope is the voters will give it a thumbs down and will say you know, this is more than we're willing to take.”
