As I reflect on the conversation leading up to the recent Iowa Caucuses I have seen three recurring actions take place among the candidates in both parties. They are:

• Disagreement
  
• Demonizing
  
• Distrust
  

The United States is an experiment in citizenship. It started as a way for people to come from other places on the globe and set themselves up to be free from injustices they faced in their homeland. It is based on these premises:

• We don’t have to agree with each other in order to be respectful.
  
• The fact that we don’t agree does not automatically mean I am correct and you are wrong when we come to different conclusions.
  
• That the will of the majority is the most equitable way to make decisions that affects everyone.
  

I would love to see our national discussion throughout the rest of this election cycle bear witness to what I have written. For this to happen we will have to inform the candidates these are the rules for engagement in this election cycle. I don’t have all the answers on how to make this happen, but as Martin Luther King, Jr. said, “I have a dream!”