The Restless Wave: Good Times, Just Causes, Great Fights, and Other Appreciations

by John McCain

the formula for success for any major piece of legislation. Don’t give up, be persistent. If you can’t get it done in this Congress, try again in the next. Give the impression that you’re going to make yourself as big a pain in the ass on the issue as you can until some accommodation to your view is made by negotiated compromise if possible or by a vote. Be alert to changes in the political environment. Strike hardest when external events give you an advantage. Make necessary compromises to build a bipartisan coalition in favor of it. Use your friendships to recruit as many influential members to your side as you can. Friends on both sides of the aisle will warn you about problems you might not be aware of, they’ll tell you who you can count on and who’s quietly working against you. Box in the cynics with public and media attention, make sure the more transactional politicians know there’s a cost to opposing the bill. Leave critical responsibilities to your hardest-nosed allies, and hope they’ll stand up to threats and reprisals. Be the most hard-nosed advocate yourself to set an example. Gather all the pressure you can to move the process along as quickly as possible, even if it ruffles important feathers. A lot of momentum for an issue is illusory and based on excessive faith in the media’s sustained attention to it and the potency of its public support. Get it done before your opponents figure out that’s not the case. And get a little lucky. That’s how the sausage gets ...