By Gretchen Webster

WESTPORT — “You don’t have to agree on everything to get something done, you just have to agree on one thing,” former U.S. Sen. Roy Blunt told a group seeking “common ground” gathered Tuesday at the Westport Library.

The occasion was the inaugural forum organized by the Common Ground Initiative, an effort led by the library to open channels for civil discussion of polarizing public topics.

Blunt, a Republican who formerly represented Missouri as as both a senator and congressman for many years, was introduced as a legislator known for bipartisan cooperation, according to William Harmer, the library’s executive director.

The initiative was launched after several local issues erupted into controversy and name calling, including a war of words over books at the Staples High School library, which some parents wanted removed because they considered them inappropriate and pornographic. (Click here and here for coverage of that issue.) 

The committee’s plan was to invite both Blunt and a Democratic senator to speak at the first meeting, Harmer told the audience of about 70 people, but a scheduling conflict sidetracked that plan, and Blunt appeared virtually. U.S. Sen. Kirsten Gillibrand, a Democrat from New York, has agreed to speak at another Common Ground Initiative event, Harmer said.

Blunt told the gathering stories about how he, as the GOP majority whip, worked with Democratic colleagues to introduce legislation and get it passed. “Bipartisan bills stand the test of time,” he said, while bills endorsed mostly by one party or the other are often “not the direction the country wants to go in.”

Blunt’s talk focused not only on how to foster better communication, but also on the damage caused by false rhetoric and threatening conversations.

“Rhetoric is clearly a problem in this country now,” Blunt said. “Everyone can have their own opinion, but everyone can’t have their own facts.”

Too many Americans seem to think that if they don’t get their own way on a particular issue, they won’t accept any compromise, he added.

But the current disruptive climate isn’t unique in American history. The election in 1800 between incumbent President John Adams and his vice president, Thomas Jefferson, “was the most brutal election,” replete with nasty rhetoric, according to Blunt. And between 1865 and 1901, the years following the Civil War, three presidents were assassinated, he said — Abraham Lincoln, James Garfield and William McKinley.

Peaceful transition between presidential administrations “is so important,” Blunt said, without mentioning former President Donald Trump who has continued to contest President Joe Biden’s 2020 election victory.

“What we do here is more important than who we are.” 

Harmer thanked the audience for attending the first Common Ground Initiative event, and promised more speakers and forums on the topic of civil discourse in the future. 

“Returning civility to discourse is going to be a challenge for all of us … Democracy cannot thrive without civil discourse,” he said.

“But I have faith in our community … This is only the beginning.”

Closing the session were two Staples High School students, Mia Bomback and Spencer Yim, both members of the Common Ground Initiative Committee.

“It is imperative that we work together to maintain civility in the face of controversy,” Bomback said.

Yim urged the audience to listen before speaking on potentially divisive issues.

“We can’t seem to find a way to disagree without being disagreeable … It starts with listening with an open mind,” he said.

Westporter Steve Parrish moderated the discussion with Blunt. Parrish is the founder of Steve Parrish Consulting Group, which specializes in crisis management, corporate social responsibility, public affairs and communication, according to the library.

Freelance writer Gretchen Webster, a Fairfield County journalist and journalism teacher for many years, was editor of the Fairfield Minuteman newspaper for 10 years and teaches journalism at Southern Connecticut State University.