Donald Trump is a "little bit frightening," former Rep. Vin Weber (R-Minn.) said at the Public Affairs Council's Spring Executive & Board Meeting on April 21 in Washington, D.C., but he cannot win the Republican presidential nomination. Trump's call for a 25 percent tariff on trade with China is "madness," Weber said, and his well-publicized questioning of the birthplace of President Obama is "borderline insanity." But in a highly polarized political climate, Trump's outspoken bashing of China and OPEC appeal to great numbers of disgruntled voters.

Former Rep. Vic Fazio (D-Calif.) agreed with Weber that the "body politic is as unstable as I've seen." Both ex-legislators attribute this unpredictable climate to "fear and uncertainty" about the economy," in Weber's words, as well as changing demographics.

Addressing the subject of "Public Affairs in a Hyper-Polarized World," Weber and Fazio, with Clark & Weinstock and Akin Gump Strauss Hauer & Feld LLP, respectively, said the problem of the highly charged political environment cannot be easily solved. "There is little consequential debate" over such serious issues as deficit reduction, Fazio said, and all too little compromise, when "compromise is what makes Washington work."

Voters "get their news through campaign ads," Fazio noted, "so it is no wonder people have such a negative view of politics." They watch cable news shows that reflect their opinions. "The problem is not partisanship as such," Weber said. "Much of the role political parties once played is now played by issue groups and interest groups." For Democrats, Moveon.org can be as intimidating as the Tea Party is for Republicans, Fazio said.

Both speakers agreed that members of Congress spend too little time in Washington and do not get to know their colleagues on the other side of the aisle. Congressional representatives try to spend as much time as possible in their districts. "Unless you can reinvent the airplane," Weber said, "this isn't going to change."

A less polarized Congress would be better able to address the urgent issue of deficit reduction. Both parties seem eager to put off decisions about the deficit until 2012. "But you simply will not get a Congress more committed to deficit reduction than this one," Weber said.

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