Democrats took the bait from Donald Trump, it's not a winning strategy at the polls It's not just Trump Cabinet officials that the Resistance is out to harass. Apparently, any official with an R after her name is a target.

Jon Gabriel | The Arizona Republic Opinion

Show Caption Hide Caption Maxine Waters calling for Trump's impeachment after Iran decision Maxine Waters...a firebrand in the House...a Democratic Representative from California again calling for the impeachment for President Trump. Veuer's Nick Cardona has that story.

It was just one year ago.

A Bernie Sanders campaign volunteer named James Hodgkinson opened fire on the GOP congressional baseball team. House Majority Whip Steve Scalise, R–La., and three others were shot on that field in Alexandria, Virginia.

Leaders of both parties were quick to condemn the attempted mass assassination, calling on all Americans to renew their dedication to civility.

How soon we forget.

Last month, Scalise finally made it back to the baseball diamond. Weeks later, Rep. Maxine Waters, D–Calif., called for the public harassment of everyone working for President Donald Trump.

Great, let's escalate the vitriol

“If you see anybody from that Cabinet in a restaurant, in a department store, at a gasoline station, you get out and you create a crowd And you push back on them. And you tell them they're not welcome anymore, anywhere," Waters said to the cheering crowd.

Waters happily encouraged the progressive mobs that had already begun chasing Trump officials out of public spaces.

Department of Homeland Security chief Kirstjen Nielsen stopped by a Washington restaurant only to be chased out by Democratic Socialists of America protesters screaming, “Abolish ICE! Abolish ICE!” A mob later visited her home to scream some more.

White House press secretary Sarah Sanders and seven family members were booted from a restaurant in Lexington, Virginia, for the crime of unapproved political beliefs. Waiter Jaike Foley-Schultz’s posted on Facebook: “I just served Sarah Huckabee Sanders for a total of 2 minutes before my owner asked her to leave.”

These ejections were allegedly related to Trump’s already rescinded "zero tolerance" policy on illegal immigration. That excuse doesn’t hold up, however, because White House staffers weren’t the only ones being harassed.

All Republicans are a target

Apparently, any official with an R after her name is a target.

In Florida, protesters accosted state Attorney General Pam Bondi outside a Tampa theater showing a documentary about Fred Rogers — the very embodiment of civility. Bondi had to be escorted out of the scrum by law enforcement as the crowd shouted, jeered and spit.

"We were in a movie about anti-bullying and practicing peace and love and tolerance and accepting of people for their differences," Bondi said. "That's what Mister Rogers is all about. We all believe in free speech, but there's a big difference there.”

Of course, any call for civility must begin with Trump’s inflammatory rhetoric and personal insults. He’s no Mister Rogers, to say the least. Trump is easily the least civil president of the modern era.

Yet, as bad as he is, mobs of college Republicans aren’t chasing Maxine Waters out of restaurants or wielding bullhorns outside her house.

Members of the so-called resistance claim that Trump is a unique evil. He was separating families seeking asylum, making genteel standards of civility passé. Why, it’s Hitler all over again!

More: Fight on the side of civility in America’s social media civil war

Dear Democrats, stop imitating Trump's incivility. It'll backfire at the polls.

Please be polite: civility is the key to winning midterm elections in 2018

But the left equating a president to Adolf Hitler is nothing new. Every Republican president and presidential nominee for the past 40 years has been called the same.

As noted above, however, Trump had already returned to Obama-style border policies before last week’s harassment. And long before the heart-wrenching photos at Immigration and Customs Enforcement facilities, Federal Communications Commission Chairman Ajit Pai and Education Secretary Betsy DeVos were harassed by leftist mobs for reversing net neutrality and promoting school choice.

Physical confrontation escalation is dangerous

Those are hardly life-and-death issues. Nevertheless, both officials required physical protection after their support for mainstream positions.

The obvious worry about these physical confrontations is escalation. Groups of screaming protesters may just be exercising their First Amendment rights. Or perhaps they have a James Hodgkinson among them. A nervous security detail might make the wrong assessment — as might a politician with a concealed-carry permit. The slightest misstep in these situations could lead to tragic results.

A more political concern, however, is how utterly self-defeating these aggressive protests are. If blue mobs harass Republican politicians, how long until red mobs harass Democratic politicians? And if public officials are fair game, why not average citizens?

When it comes to the midterm elections, angry protests are a political loser for Democrats. The best thing going for Democratic candidates is the enthusiasm of their voters compared with indifferent Republicans. By making GOP voters feel under siege, progressive harassers are damaging their own chances in the fall.

All of this discord plays right into Trump’s hands. He lives for insult-ridden, “us-versus-them” rhetoric. As the old saying goes, “Never wrestle with the pig. You both get dirty and the pig likes it.”

Trump won his mud-wrestling matches with Hillary Clinton and 16 GOP also-rans. He’s eager to defend his title in November.

Before this campaign season turns into an uncivil and threatening series of tit-for-tat outrages, it’s best for all sides to pull back from the brink. As Scalise said on Twitter, “Civility and respect always prevails over harassment and disrespect.”

For all of our sakes, let’s hope he’s right.

Jon Gabriel is the editor in chief of Ricochet.com and a contributor to The Arizona Republic, where this column first appeared. You can follow him on Twitter: @exjon.