Disagreement is patriotic. Hatred is not. America works when its leaders can fight like hell and still shake hands. It’s time to lower the temperature.
There was a time in American politics when people on opposite sides of the aisle could fight passionately over policy during the day and share a drink in the evening. Not because they were weak, and not because they didn't believe in what they were fighting for. But because they understood something that today's politicians have completely lost sight of: the person across the aisle isn't your enemy. They're your colleague.
Somewhere along the way, we replaced disagreement with demonization. Political opponents became traitors. Compromise became surrender. And the idea that someone could be a good, decent person while holding a different political view became almost unthinkable.
This isn't just a political problem—it's an American problem. It's tearing apart families, friendships, and communities. And it starts at the top, with leaders who've discovered that outrage is a better fundraising tool than results.
The Common Sense Party believes we can—and must—do better. And we don't have to imagine what that looks like. We just have to remember.
"Old buddy, that's politics—after 6 o'clock we can be friends."
"Mr. Speaker, I'm grateful that you have permitted me—in the past, and I hope in the future—that singular honor, the honor of calling you my friend."
Ronald Reagan was one of the most conservative presidents in American history. Tip O'Neill, the Speaker of the House, was one of the most liberal Democrats of his era. On policy, they were miles apart. O'Neill thought Reagan's economics would devastate working families. Reagan thought O'Neill's spending would bankrupt the country.
And yet they governed together. They negotiated. They compromised. They saved Social Security in 1983 with a bipartisan deal that neither side loved but both could live with. They passed landmark tax reform in 1986. They did it because, despite their deep ideological differences, they respected each other as people and understood that their job was to govern, not to score points on cable news.
After 6 p.m., the gloves came off in a different way—they'd share Irish stories and jokes. O'Neill would call Reagan "pal" and Reagan would call him "Tip." They were, by all accounts, genuinely fond of each other.
Try to imagine that today. A Republican president and a Democratic Speaker of the House, drinking together, laughing together, and then showing up the next morning to hammer out legislation that neither party got everything they wanted from. It sounds like fantasy. It used to be called governance.
"I didn't vote for him, but he's my president, and I hope he does a good job."
John Wayne was about as conservative as they came in American public life. He was a vocal Republican, a Cold War hawk, and a cultural icon of traditional American values. John F. Kennedy was a young, liberal Democrat who represented almost everything Wayne was politically opposed to.
And when Kennedy won the 1960 election, Wayne didn't call it stolen. He didn't question Kennedy's legitimacy. He didn't spend four years trying to sabotage the new president. He said, plainly and simply: I didn't vote for him, but he's my president, and I hope he does a good job.
That single sentence captures something that has almost completely vanished from American politics: the ability to lose gracefully and root for the country's success even when your side didn't win. Wayne understood that when the president fails, America fails—and no partisan victory is worth that.
Today, the moment an election is called, the losing side immediately begins campaigning to undermine the winner. Obstruction starts before the inauguration. The opposition's entire strategy becomes making the president fail, consequences to the country be damned. And then they wonder why nothing works and nobody trusts government.
In September 2023, the United States was days away from a government shutdown. Speaker of the House Kevin McCarthy did something that used to be considered basic governing: he worked across the aisle with Democrats to pass a temporary funding bill and keep the government open. No one got everything they wanted. That's what compromise looks like.
For this act of governance, his own party removed him from the speakership. Not because he broke a law. Not because he was corrupt. Not because he failed at his job. He was ousted because he had the audacity to compromise—to do the very thing his job exists to do.
Think about what message that sends to every politician in America: if you reach across the aisle, if you put the country ahead of your caucus, if you dare to govern instead of grandstand, your own team will destroy you. It's no wonder nothing gets done in Washington. The incentive structure punishes the exact behavior we need most.
You don't have to agree with Kevin McCarthy's politics to see how deeply wrong this was. A government shutdown would have delayed military paychecks, frozen federal services, and hurt millions of Americans. McCarthy prevented that, and he was punished for it. That's not accountability—it's a party eating its own for the crime of doing their job.
The Common Sense Party believes that compromise isn't a dirty word—it's the foundation of democracy. Leaders who work across the aisle to keep the government functioning should be applauded, not expelled. Until we fix the incentive structure that rewards obstruction and punishes cooperation, nothing in Washington will change.
Let's be clear about what we're not saying. Civility doesn't mean being soft. It doesn't mean avoiding hard conversations or pretending you agree when you don't. Tip O'Neill savaged Reagan's budget proposals in public. Reagan vetoed O'Neill's priorities without blinking. Neither man pulled punches on policy.
Civility means fighting over ideas instead of attacking people. It means you can call a policy reckless without calling the person behind it evil. It means when the debate is over, you shake hands and get back to the work of running a country—because that's what the American people hired you to do.
It means recognizing that the 330 million people in this country hold a wide range of beliefs, and a functioning democracy requires us to work with people we disagree with. Not tolerate them. Not co-exist in separate bubbles. Actually work with them.
Reagan and O'Neill proved it was possible. Wayne and Kennedy proved it was patriotic. McCarthy's ouster proved what happens when we punish it. The Common Sense Party believes civility is essential—and we intend to bring it back.