On Tuesday, September 13th, the Edward M. Kennedy Institute for the U.S. Senate hosted a virtual conversation highlighting Senator Kennedy’s unique approaches to serving his constituents and his nation with the help of bipartisanship and consensus building.
In Working Across the Aisle, we were joined by key members of Senator Kennedy’s former staff as well as political collaborators across the aisle in the Senate to discuss how Senator Kennedy used the tactics of bipartisanship and goal-oriented strategy to push forward public policy. Moderated by Bob Shrum, Director of the USC Center for the Political Future and Carmen H. and Louis Warschaw Chair in Practical Politics who served as Senator Kennedy’s speechwriter, press secretary, and political strategist, the panel included Melody Barnes, Executive Director of the UVA Karsh Center of Democracy and Senator Kennedy’s former chief counsel on Judiciary Committee; Patricia Knight, Owner of Knight Capitol Consultants and former Chief of Staff to Senator Orrin Hatch; Michael Myers, former Managing Director of Policy, the Rockefeller Foundation and Senator Kennedy’s former chief counsel and staff director; and Senator Alan Simpson (R-WY).