Your Turn: Compromise vital to U.S. democracy

“Connecticut? Aye. Delaware? Aye. Georgia? No.”

Scribbling frantically, James Madison, serving in the capacity of chief recorder of the Constitutional Convention, could barely keep pace with the roll call.

“Maryland? Aye. Massachusetts? Divided; Mr. Gerry and Mr. Strong, aye, Mr. King and Mr. Gorham, no.”

The division of the Massachusetts delegation was a testament to the power of honest debate. Though Rufus King had arrived at the Constitutional Convention doubting the need to amend the Articles of Confederation, his interaction with other delegates led him to change his mind.

The vote continued. “New Jersey? Aye. North Carolina? Aye”.

Madison reeled for a moment; given its population, an affirmative vote from North Carolina was remarkable.

“Pennsylvania? No. South Carolina? No. Virginia? No.”

Madison recounted the votes cast. With a final vote of five aye’s, four no’s, and one division, the ayes prevailed, and the measure was passed. He marked in his notes the following: “Resolved. that in the 2d. branch of the Legislature of the U. S. each State shall have an equal vote.”

The agreement would come to be called the Great Compromise and it bequeathed upon the United States an extraordinary gift: that these United States would be governed by a bicameral legislature, comprised of a House of Representatives and a Senate. But something even greater had transpired: the delegates compromised. They broke through obstacles, cast aside personal ambition, and rejected ideological purity to guarantee the survival of the liberty. Out of dissonance, a mandate of unity was forged.

I wish our elected leaders today held compromise in the same light as our Founding Fathers. Today, rather, to compromise is to commit political suicide. As a Republican, I am disappointed my party has played a role in this tragic shift in American politics.

Without compromise, stories that now represent extraordinary moments of American triumph would instead be reminders of when democracy failed. Reconstruction following the Civil War would have been a merciless quest for vengeance, the Marshall Plan would have remained an idea, the Civil Rights Act of 1964 would have died in the Senate, and Neil Armstrong would have never landed on the moon.

As Republicans, toeing the party line has done nothing to help us advance our agenda, either. Has the national debt been reduced? Are states’ rights more protected than before? Has the size of the federal bureaucracy been reduced? Is our national defense stronger? I think not.

It is clear: The very fabric of our society is firmly grounded in compromise, and no prudent man or woman can deny the crucial role compromise has played in promulgating the freedoms we enjoy today.

For these reasons, I make an appeal to my party: We must change course.

This November, we are likely to gain control of the very chamber formed by the Great Compromise. With this in mind, I am honored to join former Congressman Jim Slattery in urging you to keep unity close to your heart come this November. Recognize the necessity for compromise in government, for it is the price we pay for unity. Our survival as a nation depends upon it. Elect those candidates that will serve reason, not partisan politics, and ensure that our two-hundred year-old mandate of unity endures for the next generation of Americans.