House Speaker Paul Ryan is urging Americans "disheartened" by the current state of politics to keep their faith in government — and to reject a political climate where "ugliness is the norm."
In an advance copy of Ryan's address Wednesday to a bipartisan group of House interns, the Wisconsin lawmaker conceded "our political discourse — both the kind we see on TV and the kind we experience among each other — did not used to be this bad."
"And it does not have to be this way," he said. "A little skepticism is healthy. But when people distrust politics, they come to distrust institutions. They lose faith in their government, and the future too. We can acknowledge this. But we don't have to accept it. And we cannot enable it either."
Ryan called his optimistic vision one that can return the country to one where "ideas, passionately promoted" are "put to the test."
"Governing ourselves was never meant to be easy," he said. "This has always been a tough business. And when passions flair, ugliness is sometimes inevitable. But we shouldn't accept ugliness as the norm."
And though people think about politics in terms of "this vote or that election," it "can be so much more," he added.
"Politics can be a battle of ideas, not insults," he said. "It can be about solutions. It can be about making a difference. It can be about always striving to do better. That's what it can be and what it should be."
Ryan condemned politicians' "playing the identity politics of 'our base' and 'their base.'"
"We unite people around ideas and principles," he said. "We don't resort to scaring you, we dare to inspire you. We don't just oppose someone or something. We propose a clear and compelling alternative."