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ByLaurieKellmanand Emily Swanson The Associated Press WASHINGTON Ask Ameri- cans about bad manners in the 2016 presidential cam- paign and the conversation shifts immediately to Don- ald Trump, the GOP front- runner who has branded his critics, "little," "lyin," "low-energy" and worse. "I don't recall anyone stirring up as much of a fuss as Mr. Trump," says Sidney Waldman, 81, a re- tired book store owner in Key West, Florida. "He just does not need to say things the way he says them. It may get attention now, but he is going to be remem- bered in a negative way." "He's a bully," says Kellie Zangrillo, 53, of Auburn, Washington, like Waldman an independent. Trump not only may have set the tone in the campaign, she sug- gested, but his nasty words could have real conse- quences if uttered as pres- ident. "I think he'd get us into World War III." When it comes to rude- ness in 2016 politics, the Re- publican presidential con- test wins in a landslide, a new poll by the Associated Press-NORC Center for Pub- lic Affairs Research has found. The survey shows that 78 percent of Ameri- cans, including most Re- publicans, see the GOP race as discourteous. Only about half as many — 41 percent — say the same about the Democratic campaign. Eight in 10 people say re- marks about race or gen- der and sexuality are un- acceptable in public places, and that political leaders should be held to a higher standard of behavior than other people. It's not just politics. Nearly three-quarters say people in general are ruder these days than 20 or 30 years ago, a finding similar to one seen in an Associ- ated Press/Ipsos poll taken in 2005. Even so, two-thirds see political campaigns this year as outdoing the public in levels of rudeness. Trump plainly has played a role in setting the tone to extra-coarse, doling out put-downs to a wide selec- tion of critics, political op- ponents, a religious group, debate moderators and pro- testers. Former GOP candi- date Jeb Bush was "low en- ergy." Onetime GOP hope- ful Marco Rubio was "little Marco." Ted Cruz, who is Trump's most prominent rival for the nomination, is "lyin Ted." Famously, Trump said Fox News Channel's Megyn Kelly had "blood coming out of her wherever" after she pressed him last year on his insults of women. Manners matter to Americans. Florida's Rubio learned how little they ap- preciate discourtesy on the campaign trail when he re- turned Trump's insults in kind, lost his home state primary in Florida and dropped out of the con- test. Rubio said he regret- ted adopting Trump's tech- nique. Now, there's evidence that Trump may have got- ten the message as he strug- gles to add to a following that could leave him short of the 1,237 delegates he needs to win the GOP pres- idential nomination. He's hired professional politi- cal operatives to steer him in the delegate derby. He was reported to have met with Kelly this week, after months of tweeted insults and his boycotting a Fox de- bate earlier this year. There are deep cultural roots to Americans' dislike of rudeness in their lead- ers. The poll found that in general, the public disap- proves of behavior rang- ing from using cellphones in restaurants to making sexist statements in pub- lic. Most people find vul- gar language and bigoted comments inappropriate. More than 80 percent say remarks and jokes about race or about gender and sexuality are unacceptable. There is less condemnation for these types of comments made in private, but more than 6 in 10 regard them as improper there as well. Half the public see this year's campaign for the Republican nomination as mostly rude and disre- spectful, and an additional 29 percent consider it some- what so. Even 8 in 10 Re- publicans (79 percent) re- gard their party's process to determine a nominee for president as ill-mannered. In contrast, only 16 per- cent say the campaign be- tween the Democratic can- didates for president is mostly rude and disrespect- ful, while 25 percent who consider it somewhat so. Trump likes to dismiss complaints about his man- ners as "political correct- ness." The poll found that only 15 percent believe can- didates should not be sensi- tive to the possibility of up- setting other people. The AP-NORC poll of 1,004 adults was conducted March 17-21 using a sample drawn from NORC's prob- ability-based AmeriSpeak panel, which is designed to be representative of the U.S. population. The margin of sampling error for all re- spondents is plus or minus 3.8 percentage points. POLITICS AP P ol l: 7 8 pe rc en t sa y GO P ra ce i s di sc ou rt eo us MARYALTAFFER—THEASSOCIATEDPRESSFILE Donald Trump speaks in Patchogue, N.Y. By Ken Thomas and Nicole Winfield The Associated Press VATICAN CITY Bernie Sanders issued a global call to action at the Vatican on Friday to address "im- moral and unsustainable" wealth inequality and pov- erty, using the high-pro- file gathering to echo one of the central platforms of his presidential campaign. The Democratic senator from Vermont cited Pope Francis and St. John Paul II repeatedly during his speech to the Vatican con- ference commemorating the 25th anniversary of a landmark teaching docu- ment from John Paul on social and economic jus- tice after the Cold War. Sanders arrived in Rome hours after wrapping up a debate in New York Thurs- day night, saying the op- portunity to address the Vatican conference was too meaningful to pass up. The roughly 24-hour visit precedes Tuesday's crucial New York primary, which Sanders must do well in to maintain a viable challenge to Democratic front-runner Hillary Clinton. Pope Francis apologized that he couldn't person- ally greet participants at the Vatican conference. No meeting with Sanders was expected. But the trip gave Sand- ers a moment on the world stage, placing him along- side priests, bishops, ac- ademics and two South American presidents. Sand- ers has been at a disadvan- tage during his campaign against Clinton, President Barack Obama's former secretary of state, on issues of foreign policy but he was peppered with questions from academics and eccle- siastics in a manner that might have been afforded a head of state. Sanders trails Clinton in the Democratic primaries but the trip to the Vatican and his massive rally earlier thisweekwith27,000people in New York City may have offered a glimpse of the sen- ator's aim to become a pro- gressive leader, win or lose. The discussions gave him a chance to expand on his core campaign mes- sages about the need to re- form banking regulations, campaign finance rules and higher education. Asked about inequality in public education, he said it was "beyond disgraceful" and cited challenging con- ditions in Detroit's school system. He told the audience that rather than a world econ- omy that looks out for the common good, "we have been left with an econ- omy operated for the top 1 percent, who get richer and richer as the working class, the young and the poor fall further and fur- ther behind." "We don't choose to po- liticize the pope," Sand- ers told attendees, "but his spirit and courage and the fact, if I may say so here, that his words have gone way, way, way beyond the Catholic Church." Sanders also warned that youth around the world are no longer satis- fied with the status quo, which includes "corrupt and broken politics and an economy of stark inequal- ity and injustice." During the meetings, he sat next to the other main guest of honor at the Vat- ican: Bolivian President Evo Morales, whose is re- nowned for his anti-impe- rialist, socialist rhetoric. President Rafael Correa of Ecuador also attended. As he walked through VaticanCity'sPeruginogate, Sanders was greeted about two dozen supporters, some of whom carried signs bear- ing Sanders' name. Back home, Clinton holds a significant dele- gate lead against Sanders, but the senator has vowed to stay in the campaign un- til the party's July conven- tion. His message calling for a political revolution to address wealth inequality and the influence of Wall Street on U.S. politics has galvanized many Demo- crats and independents. Despite being enmeshed in an increasingly bitter campaign against Clin- ton, Sanders aides said the trip was not aimed at ap- pealing to Catholic voters who comprise a large share of the Democratic elector- ate in New York and an up- coming contest in Pennsyl- vania. CAMPAIGN PLATFORM At Vatican, Sanders blasts 'immoral' inequality ANDREAS SOLARO — POOL PHOTO Sen. Bernie Sanders, right, sits by Bolivia president Evo Morales during a conference commemorating the 25th anniversary of "Centesimus Annus," at the Vatican Friday. By David Eggert The Associated Press LANSING, MICH. Michigan would have the toughest lead-testing rules in the nation and require the re- placement of all under- ground lead service pipes in the state under a sweep- ing plan that Gov. Rick Snyder and a team of wa- ter experts unveiled Friday in the wake of Flint's wa- ter crisis. Other proposals include requiring utilities to test all schools, day care cen- ters, nursing homes and similar facilities — not just some people's houses — and the mandatory disclosure of lead plumbing in home sales and rental contracts. The plan was given to The Associated Press be- fore it was presented to a committee that Snyder ap- pointed to work on long- term fixes related to Flint's lead-tainted water crisis. The Republican gover- nor said at Friday's meet- ing in Flint that he wants a "marker in the ground," and he expects the plan to gen- erate legislative debate and a better accounting of cost considerations. Under U.S. Environmen- tal Protection Agency rules, water systems across the country must take steps to control corrosion if lead concentrations exceed 15 parts per billion in more than 10 percent of cus- tomer taps sampled. Mich- igan would move by 2020 to a limit of 10 parts per billion — in line with the World Health Organiza- tion's standard. The federal lead stan- dard is "dumb and danger- ous," Snyder said. The gov- ernor, who has apologized for his administration's fail- ures in the Flint disaster, noted that the EPA will not propose revisions until 2017, saying: "Let's set a higher standard faster." The impoverished city of nearly 100,000 residents is under a monthslong state of emergency. Residents are urged to use faucet filters or bottled water until dam- aged pipes are effectively re- coated with anti-corrosion chemicals that were not used for 18 months after Flint temporarily switched water sources to the lo- cal river in 2014 while un- der state financial manage- ment. Dangerously high levels of the metal were detected in the blood of some resi- dents, including children, for whom it can cause lower IQs and behavioral prob- lems. "We gathered the right group of experts to come up with a solution that we need for Michigan but that can be translated nation- wide," said Mike Zimmer, Snyder's cabinet director and a panel member who helped devise the proposed changes with a group that includes water experts such as Virginia Tech professor Marc Edwards. Michigan is estimated to have 460,000 lead lines running from water mains to homes and buildings in older neighborhoods, third- most in the U.S. behind only Illinois (730,000) and Ohio (650,000), according to the American Water Works As- sociation. FLINT CRISIS Michigan pushes for toughest lead rules in US By Foster Klug and Hyung-Jin Kim The Associated Press SEOUL, SOUTH KOREA A North Korea missile launch meant to celebrate the birthday of the coun- try's founder ended in fail- ure, U.S. defense officials said Friday, an embarrass- ing setback in what was re- portedly the inaugural test of a new, powerful mid- range missile. "It was a fiery, cata- strophic attempt at a launch that was unsuccessful," said Capt. Jeff Davis, a Pentagon spokesman. He said U.S. of- ficials are still assessing, but it was likely a road- mobile missile, given that it was launched from a lo- cation not usually used for ballistic missile launches, on the country's east coast. South Korea's Yonhap news agency carried an unsourced report that a "Musudan" missile, which could one day be capable of reaching far-off U.S. mili- tary bases in Asia and the Pacific, exploded in the air a few seconds after liftoff. A U.S. official speaking on condition of anonym- ity to discuss intelligence matters told The Associ- ated Press that it appeared to be a Musudan missile but no definitive conclusion had been reached. Despite the failure, the North has another Musudan loaded on a mobile launcher and Pyongyang will likely fire it, according to South Korean and U.S. authori- ties, Yonhap reported. U.S. Defense Secretary Ash Carter, speaking to re- porters during a stop on the USS John C. Stennis air- craft carrier in the South China Sea, said that while the U.S. deemed the launch to be unsuccessful, it "was nonetheless another prov- ocation by North Korea in a region that doesn't need that kind of behavior." The launch comes as the two Koreas trade threats amid Pyongyang's an- ger over annual South Ko- rean-U.S. military drills that North Korea calls a re- hearsal for an invasion. The North has recently fired a slew of missiles and artil- lery shells into the sea in an apparent protest against the drills. The surge in belliger- ent rhetoric and nuclear and missile activity in the North may also be linked to leader Kim Jong Un's prep- arations for a major ruling party meeting next month that analysts believe he will use to further solidify his autocratic rule. A senior U.S. defense of- ficial, speaking on condi- tion of anonymity, said the U.S. Strategic Command systems have detected and tracked what officials as- sessed as a failed North Ko- rean missile launch. "We strongly condemn North Korea's missile test in violation of U.N. Secu- rity Council Resolutions, which explicitly prohibit North Korea's use of ballis- tic missile technology," the official said. White House Press Secre- tary Josh Earnest said in a statement that said the U.S. is "strongly committed" to the defense of its Asian al- lies, particularly South Ko- rea and Japan. EAST ASIA US : NK or ea n m is si le l au nc h a fa il ur e SATURDAY, APRIL 16, 2016 REDBLUFFDAILYNEWS.COM | NEWS | 5 B