Hello there, I'm Chuck Todd and this is the Chuck Todd Gask.

If you take a close look at almost every political issue today, whether it's Coke, whether

it's voting, police, climate, abortion, you will find one problem at the root of a solution,

polarization.

It's an issue that's been growing for years and the illness is rippling out across American

democracy, driving people from leadership roles in Congress down to county executives,

even school board members.

Teachers and health officials are quitting under the strain of partisan attacks on their

work.

They don't even, they're not even in elective office.

So my next guest knows a little something about the impact of polarization.

It's former South Carolina governor, former member of Congress, Republican Mark Sanford.

He's the author of a new book, Two Roads Diverged Governor.

Welcome to the Toddcast.

Well, that's your, thanks a lot.

Let me join.

We've done this a few times and we've done this topic a few times and I feel like you've

written about this before and I guess let's start with what we know polarization is why

we're not past, why we're behind on this pandemic.

We can, we can discuss whether how much further ahead we'd be, but polarization has hurt us.

I mean, just ask Asa Hutchinson in Arkansas, you saw it firsthand.

Mm-hmm.

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