I actually liked the canned campaign-type speeches, because they were invariably from a leftist perspective; it gave me an insight into what arguments were being made in Democrat circles about the issue under discussion. Valuable intel.
As for civility being more common in real life, well maybe. However, I've read enough stories and heard first-hand accounts about some of the hardball tactics the White House engages in to think that confrontation isn't that rare. Apparently Karl Rove is the master of the 'frank' discussion (the codeword for "We screamed obscenities at each other," I believe).
But the dialog in that show was just too slick to be realistic. People talked too smoothly in these long flowing sentences. People are not that smooth in real life. They search for the right words, stammer sometimes, and amend things they just said. They needed more MASH dialog on that show.