Is listening in politics dead? Two former Tennessee governors push the unfashionable in era of division

WASHINGTON — Phil Bredesen and Bill Haslam sound like relics from an unrecognizable era.

The two former Tennessee governors – Bredesen, a moderate Democrat, and Haslam, a Republican who refused to back Donald Trump – talk earnestly about problem-solving. They use words and phrases like compromise, common ground and listening to the other side.

None of that matches the intense discord of 2022 as Trump and many Republicans deny the results of the last presidential election, political violence is on the rise, and President Joe Biden argues democracy is under threat.

Bredesen and Haslam have worked to break through the gridlock in a podcast airing through the midterm election. Serving as the hosts, the ex-governors have brought on former Vice President Al Gore to discuss climate change, former House Speaker Paul Ryan to talk national debt, and Arne Duncan, former Education Secretary, to talk about his Chicago-based nonprofit focused on reducing gun violence.

Each guest is joined by another panelist who offers a different perspective. The goal: produce possible solutions – even if it requires give and take – to some of the nation's biggest challenges.

"It's really easy to retreat to your corner but it's not going to solve the problem," Haslam said. "Let's bring in people who can thoughtfully explain both sides – with no shouting – and try to come to a place where you at least understand the other side better."

More: Former Govs. Phil Bredesen, Bill Haslam launch podcast diving into complex political topics

Listen to podcast here. 

The podcast, called "You might be right," was inspired by a favorite phrase of the late Sen. Howard Baker, R-Tenn., known as "the great conciliator" for his spirit of bipartisanship. It is operated out of the Howard H. Baker Jr. Center for Public Policy at the University of Tennessee.

The approach hardly resembles Tennessee's current slate of top officeholders. Bredesen, whose brand of centrism won him all 95 of Tennessee's counties in the 2006 race for governor, was soundly defeated by firebrand conservative Sen. Marsha Blackburn for U.S. Senate in 2018. Haslam was replaced by Gov. Bill Lee, who has played to a conservative base on abortion, guns, "critical race theory" in the classroom and transgender rights in schools.

Although hailing from different parties, Bredesen and Haslam have several similarities. Both were wealthy businessmen before launching their political careers. And both first became mayors, Bredesen in Nashville and Haslam in Knoxville. Bredesen went on to serve as governor from 2003 to 2011. Haslam succeeded him, serving from 2011 to 2019.

The two governors were recently in Washington to kick off the podcast and talked to USA TODAY. Here's part of the interview. Some of the answers are abbreviated.

Question: Tell me about this podcast. And what's brought you to Washington?

Bredesen: We started this process of trying to do a series of podcasts where we took an issue – the first issue is gun control – and we brought some people together who had different views of the subjects and then have an intelligent conversation. Are there ways to find some common ground to begin to solve this problem as opposed to just everyone shouting at each other over a fence? What we've done so far here has been well received. I think we're onto something. I think it's a voice you need to have.

Haslam: We're both frustrated that in today's political world you get points for being mad, not for solving a problem. What we're trying to do in taking on some of these hard issues is to say two things. One, that there's complexity involved. Climate change is not an easy issue. And how we can approach that practically is really difficult. But it starts with understanding the complexity and listening to the other side of the argument. Then what we try to do is say here are some potential steps forward.

Bredesen: You talk about bipartisanship in terms of compromise, which it certainly is, but I think you also need to talk about about it in terms of getting the best solution to the problem. My experience was always the best solution probably is picking and choosing from the several points of views and Democratic and Republican ideas. And if you're unwilling to consider those, you're going to end up with a solution that's not optimal.

Question: Gov. Haslam, you mentioned climate change. But many Republicans don't acknowledge climate change is real. And with gun control, you have many Republicans who oppose any additional regulations whatsoever. How is there room for compromise when both sides don't agree there's a problem?

Haslam: The first thing you have to do on all these hard issues is step back and say, what are the facts telling us? On gun violence we know that we're five or six times higher than the next comparable developed country in gun deaths. So rather than immediately go to, 'You're for the Second Amendment or against the Second Amendment', let's talk about why that is. And what are the things that we can do to address that? Politically, today when an issue comes up, whether it's race or gun violence or climate change, it's like, well, here's my position, the safest place to be is right where my party is, but there's no reward for actually trying to solve the problem.

Question: We've had gridlock in Washington for a long time. But what we're seeing now is different. Many Republicans led by Donald Trump still deny the 2020 election results. President Biden has called "MAGA Republicans" threats to democracy. How can compromise take place amid those dynamics?

Bredesen: I would love to believe that Bill and I doing eight podcasts is going to change the course of history, but we know that's not going to happen. I just come from the standpoint of you need to try to do something. I've always believed that when you think about things, that really posing the question correctly is the secret to getting a solution and an answer. Whatever your view is on the Second Amendment, can we talk about how we can keep people from getting killed?

Haslam: You see this from where you sit. You need to write articles that are going to focus on those things that bring passion out in people, and we get that. We'd love to try to shift the conversation to people who are actually trying to make a difference and solve the problem. Because both of us have had these jobs where we realize there's real problems to solve. We can argue about some of the stuff that people want to vent about. Or we can go back and say what we're actually supposed to do in these jobs is make life better for people.

Question: To that point, your podcast guests don't include Tennessee's senators, Blackburn and Bill Hagerty, or Gov. Bill Lee. Are you going to, at some point, try to engage with them?

Haslam: We made a decision early on not to have any current electeds on the show. But we just taped a live show last night on the filibuster with Lamar Alexander and Bob Corker, two former senators who, while they're both Republican, have a very different view of the filibuster.

Bredesen:  Both of us have been there, and when you're under the constraints of being elected, I think you're much more constrained in the way you can talk about problems. There's many more effects, good and bad, or fallout, from things you say. We're just trying to open up the conversation.

Question: You mentioned gun violence, climate change and the Senate filibuster. What other issues are you discussing?

Haslam: We have an episode on charter schools and public education and we have an episode on the national debt with (former House Speaker) Paul Ryan and Barry Eichengreen, (economist) from UC Berkeley. It's really easy to repeat your corner, but it's not going to solve the problem. Let's bring in people who can thoughtfully explain both sides.

Bredesen: One of the things we're trying to do is move beyond the ideologies. What are some of the practical considerations here? There's a lot of good things about the Congress, Washington and all that sort of thing, but being tightly tied to the reality is not one of them.

Reach Joey Garrison on Twitter @joeygarrison.

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This article originally appeared on USA TODAY: Ex-Tenn. governors, one Dem, one GOP, start podcast to urge dialogue