McCain — Legislative Deliberation & National Cohesion

Campaign Briefing: Representation

Foundations

September 26, 2025

“If our republic is to endure with strength and legitimacy, it must be guided by reasoned deliberation, not the tribal triumph of one faction over another.”

I. The Constitutional Imperative of True Deliberation in Congress

Senator John McCain’s reflections on the Senate’s failures of recent years stand as a profound caution, not merely for the upper chamber, but for all of Congress. His appeal was to the constitutional soul of our nation—urging lawmakers to remember that the strength of our republic lies not in the capacity to achieve slim majorities for narrow victories, but in our commitment to measured, inclusive debate that seeks the broader consent of the governed.

In the Senate, he lamented how partisan maneuvering had overtaken thoughtful negotiation, how “the most revered Members of this institution accepted the necessity of compromise,” yet we had drifted so far from this ethos that he doubted whether we could still claim to be the “world’s greatest deliberative body.” But the very same logic must be applied to the House of Representatives. The House, by design, is closer to the passions of the people. Its Members stand for election every two years to ensure accountability to shifting needs and sentiments. Yet even here, or perhaps especially here, deliberation—not just debate—must remain the cornerstone.

Without it, we replace reason with slogans, substitute genuine policy with hollow victory chants, and transform our constitutional machinery into little more than a partisan conveyor belt, churning out temporary wins destined to be reversed by the next slight shift in electoral fortune.

II. Partisan Impulse Versus National Consensus

McCain feared the Senate was abandoning its duty to deliberate precisely because it had become addicted to the thrill of short-term partisan gain. “Sometimes I wanted to win more for the sake of winning,” he confessed, highlighting a temptation every legislator faces. But such temptations do not confine themselves to the marble floors of the Senate. In the House—where the simple majority carries the day, and where the electoral clock ticks even louder—this temptation is perhaps stronger.

Yet governing a nation as vast and varied as ours cannot rest on the transient favor of 50 percent plus one. A durable national consensus—one that binds Iowa to Oregon, Montana to Pennsylvania, New York to Nebraska—requires solutions supported by a broad cross-section of the American people, often closer to three-fifths or even three-fourths. It means transcending partisanship, embracing the diverse conditions of our states, and forging policies that hold under the weight of time and the stress of future administrations.

“We are getting nothing done, my friends. We are getting nothing done,” McCain warned, because each side was waiting for its moment to impose its will unilaterally—only to watch the next wave undo it all. This cycle is not governance; it is political warfare by procedural means.

III. The Role of Congress in Cultivating Mutual Understanding Among the States

The House and the Senate are not simply mechanisms to register party votes. They are the structured arenas through which the people of every state—through their distinct representatives—come to understand one another. A representative from Nebraska may speak to the urgent concerns of farmers grappling with drought and trade uncertainty.

Meanwhile, a Member from New York might voice the needs of densely populated urban communities wrestling with housing affordability or immigrant integration. The deliberative process is how the people of Nebraska and the people of New York come to recognize one another’s struggles, weigh competing priorities, and devise shared solutions.

This is not romantic idealism; it is the practical engine of American federalism. Without it, we would fracture into regional fiefdoms, each pursuing its own narrow interest, oblivious to the fabric of national interdependence.

McCain articulated this when he spoke of the Senate’s peculiar customs—rules that “slow our proceedings and insist on our cooperation”—as being essential, not obstacles. So too in the House, where open rules, committee hearings, and cross-regional coalitions should be cultivated, not cynically gamed.

“Why don’t we try the old way of legislating,” McCain asked—through committee hearings that gather evidence, through amendments that give voice to minority perspectives, through compromises that no one loves but that everyone can live with.

IV. Rejecting Bumper Sticker Governance and Fear-Based Rule

In today’s political environment, decisions are too often driven by what an ad man can fit on a billboard, or by what fear a strategist can amplify on social media. We pass measures in haste, framed in absolutes, designed less to solve problems than to secure talking points for the next campaign.

This stands in stark contrast to McCain’s call for humility. He admitted times when passion overruled reason, when partisanship overwhelmed principle. But he came back to the essential truth: real lawmaking in a republic as free, diverse, and disputatious as ours demands patience, deliberation, and an earnest respect for competing views.

It is not about winning by raw numbers. It is about forging policies that can stand the test of time because they have been tested by dissent and shaped by accommodation.

“Merely preventing your political opponents from doing what they want isn’t the most inspiring work,” McCain reminded us. The work that endures is the painstaking construction of common ground.

V. Restoring the Practice of Mutual Trust and Service to the Nation

Imagine a Congress that does not reflexively retreat to its corners at the first sign of disagreement. A Congress where Members from Florida listen to the economic anxieties of Ohio, where Texans understand the water crises of Arizona, and Californians appreciate the industrial concerns of Michigan. This is not merely a nostalgic dream. It is the constitutional function of Congress—to deliberate, to balance, to unify.

McCain’s final appeal was simple and profound: “Let’s trust each other. Let’s return to regular order.” That means open debates, committee markups, bipartisan amendments, and conference committees that actually seek input across party lines.

It means rejecting the entertainers who profit from division—“To hell with them. They don’t want anything done for the public good.” It means remembering that our collective obligation is not to any party’s platform but to a nation conceived in liberty, dedicated to equality, and entrusted to us to keep free, stable, and prosperous.

Conclusion

Our republic was designed not for swift partisan victories but for measured, reasoned, often uncomfortable compromise that balances the needs of a vast continent and a dynamic people. Senator McCain’s warning to the Senate is a warning to all of Congress: without true deliberation, we do not govern. We simply take turns imposing ourselves until the inevitable backlash.

And that is not stable governance. It is not how a great nation—this great nation—should be led.

“In the end, let us remember: our most enduring victories are not those won over one another, but those we win together on behalf of the people we serve.”