Compromise is Essential for Democracy
By Brother Rogers
When liberal icon George McGovern died recently, he was lauded by conservative icon Bob Dole. Both men won their respective party’s nomination for president (McGovern in 1972 and Dole in 1996), and both served with distinction in the United States Senate.
Dole reported that when McGovern was asked about being friendly with Republicans, he replied, “You can’t keep on campaigning forever.” That sentiment, expressed by a Democratic statesman and affirmed by a Republican one, is exactly what America will need after the presidential election.
Regardless of who wins in November, the next president and the Congress will need to stop campaigning and find common ground. Dole and McGovern both had strong principles, but they knew how to compromise for the overall good of the country.
The venerable John C. Stennis, who represented Mississippi in the U.S. Senate from 1947 to 1989, also was an extremely principled man. He considered it a point of pride, not weakness, to be able to work across the aisle with presidents of the other party. A lifelong Democrat, Stennis worked amiably with Republican presidents Eisenhower, Nixon, Ford, and Reagan. He recognized the need to form relationships and cooperate with Republicans.
For example, Senator Mark Hatfield, a Republican from Oregon, never voted for a Defense Appropriations bill during the time they served together, while Senator Stennis authored most of those bills. Yet the two worked together on bills related to education and economic development and had a close personal relationship. Senator Stennis and Senator Hatfield were the ranking Democrat and Republican on the Senate Appropriations Committee and worked closely and effectively with each other. Our country needs this kind of statesman-like conduct today from political leaders in both parties.
The Stennis Center for Public Service recently completed its leadership development program in the 112th Congress for senior congressional staff on Capitol Hill, called Stennis Fellows. These 30 staff leaders, Democrats and Republicans from both the House and the Senate, concluded after months of meeting together that moving beyond political polarization requires finding ways to work across political differences. It does not mean eliminating polarization, which has been an enduring feature of our political system throughout most of our history. It does mean adopting a willingness to respect political opponents and a desire to find common ground to collaborate more effectively.
This desire to find common ground is a missing, but essential ingredient for democracy. Too often, our leaders find it easy to take the position that they represent their district well if they don’t compromise. The Stennis Fellows observed in their final report that “compromise today is more often viewed negatively as a betrayal of party or ideological principles. And constant media and special interest attention tends to bring swift and strong opposition to attempts at compromise.”
Conservative Bob Dole wrote that America and the world are better off because of the public life of his friend, the liberal George McGovern. They both realized that the campaign can’t go on forever. In the words of a song by country music legend George Jones, “Who’s Gonna Fill Their Shoes? Who’s Gonna Stand That Tall?”
When liberal icon George McGovern died recently, he was lauded by conservative icon Bob Dole. Both men won their respective party’s nomination for president (McGovern in 1972 and Dole in 1996), and both served with distinction in the United States Senate.
Dole reported that when McGovern was asked about being friendly with Republicans, he replied, “You can’t keep on campaigning forever.” That sentiment, expressed by a Democratic statesman and affirmed by a Republican one, is exactly what America will need after the presidential election.
Regardless of who wins in November, the next president and the Congress will need to stop campaigning and find common ground. Dole and McGovern both had strong principles, but they knew how to compromise for the overall good of the country.
The venerable John C. Stennis, who represented Mississippi in the U.S. Senate from 1947 to 1989, also was an extremely principled man. He considered it a point of pride, not weakness, to be able to work across the aisle with presidents of the other party. A lifelong Democrat, Stennis worked amiably with Republican presidents Eisenhower, Nixon, Ford, and Reagan. He recognized the need to form relationships and cooperate with Republicans.
For example, Senator Mark Hatfield, a Republican from Oregon, never voted for a Defense Appropriations bill during the time they served together, while Senator Stennis authored most of those bills. Yet the two worked together on bills related to education and economic development and had a close personal relationship. Senator Stennis and Senator Hatfield were the ranking Democrat and Republican on the Senate Appropriations Committee and worked closely and effectively with each other. Our country needs this kind of statesman-like conduct today from political leaders in both parties.
The Stennis Center for Public Service recently completed its leadership development program in the 112th Congress for senior congressional staff on Capitol Hill, called Stennis Fellows. These 30 staff leaders, Democrats and Republicans from both the House and the Senate, concluded after months of meeting together that moving beyond political polarization requires finding ways to work across political differences. It does not mean eliminating polarization, which has been an enduring feature of our political system throughout most of our history. It does mean adopting a willingness to respect political opponents and a desire to find common ground to collaborate more effectively.
This desire to find common ground is a missing, but essential ingredient for democracy. Too often, our leaders find it easy to take the position that they represent their district well if they don’t compromise. The Stennis Fellows observed in their final report that “compromise today is more often viewed negatively as a betrayal of party or ideological principles. And constant media and special interest attention tends to bring swift and strong opposition to attempts at compromise.”
Conservative Bob Dole wrote that America and the world are better off because of the public life of his friend, the liberal George McGovern. They both realized that the campaign can’t go on forever. In the words of a song by country music legend George Jones, “Who’s Gonna Fill Their Shoes? Who’s Gonna Stand That Tall?”
