Former U.S. Sen. David Durenberger (R-MN) wanted to ensure that the failure of the last major push to change the health care system in 1993-94 wasn't repeated.
Earlier this year, he organized a conference of 40 veterans from that era and produced a list of commandments. Two of them: Empower Congress and Manage Partisanship.
"The context in which we talk about empowering the Congress is to build a relationship between the president, who can relate so much better to the public, and the people who have to do the heavy lifting," Durenberger says.
Durenberger says he is optimistic about the managing of partisanship because many Democrats who occupy powerful positions in Congress understand better than they did in the past the importance of working with Republicans on the issue.
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