Would Howard Baker have a place in today’s politics? – with Tom Daschle and Ben Sasse
Senator Howard Baker was called the Great Conciliator because he believed politics was about listening, respecting your opponents, and finding common ground. In today’s political climate where division and distrust often dominate the headlines, those ideas sound almost impossible. If Howard Baker were in the U.S. Senate today, could his approach still work? To explore that, our hosts, former Tennessee Governors Phil Bredesen and Bill Haslam, are joined by two former U.S. Senate leaders, Ben Sasse and Tom Daschle, to talk about what Baker’s legacy means for our politics now — and what lessons we might carry forward.
This episode was recorded in honor of Senator Howard Baker’s one hundredth birthday, which would’ve been November 15th, 2025.
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“Howard Baker would be needed in the Senate today.”
Tom Daschle, former U.S. Senator representing South Dakota, began the conversation by underscoring the need for a leader like Howard Baker in the Senate today. Senator Daschle shared a personal story, recounting Baker’s commitment to bipartisan cooperation and support.
“When I got elected Leader, on the very next day, I got a call from Howard Baker, the former Republican Leader, former chief of staff to Ronald Reagan. He asked if he could come and see me,” Daschle shared. “He came the next day and he said, ‘I want to be helpful to you. I want to do anything I can to make you succeed.”
Ben Sasse, former U.S. Senator representing Nebraska, added to the conversation that, while Senator Baker was praiseworthy, social media has changed the dynamic in the Senate.
“I don’t know how great he’d be at Instagram,” said Sasse. “Because at the end of the day, the moment we’re living at, the Senate has ceased to be the world’s greatest deliberative body. Hopefully it can recover, but right now the incentives are toward performative stuff, not actual outcomes.”
“The government is mostly on autopilot.”
Both guests highlighted how the role of Congress has changed significantly since Senator Baker’s time in office.
The Senators pointed to the increase in cloture votes used to end a filibuster, as well as the tendency for legislators to perform for cameras, as critical reasons for the lack of debate and progress in Congress today.
Senator Daschle specifically acknowledged how the Senate has given congressional responsibility to the executive branch through statutes, “We delegated more and more responsibility that was truly congressional responsibility, and I’d probably put tariffs at the top of the list right now.” For example, Senators Daschle and Sasse assessed how the vague language of the Affordable Care Act delegated legislative power to the President.
Adding to the conversation, Senator Sasse shared an anecdote that he described as a common sentiment amongst legislators, “’They [constituents] don’t care whether or not I pass legislation through my committee to get to that outcome. I just want to deliver the good news to them…I’ll get credit for delivering the good news, but for the 30% who are going to be mad, I’d rather have them be mad at you, a faceless bureaucrat who’s not going to stand for reelection again.'”
“If they make all these decisions and Congress continues to shrink its domain, then performative politics is what you’re going to devolve into,” Sasse said.
“How did compromise get to be a bad word?”
Throughout the episode, Senators Daschle and Sasse analyzed the difficulties when conflict and combat is rewarded in an environment that needs compromise. The pair discuss historic changes in processes and systems, including budget and appropriations processes and the filibuster. An ongoing theme was the rise of social media as contributing to what they see as a decline in compromise.
“I’ve long said, compromise is the oxygen of democracy. I mean, it’s that important. And we have very little oxygen these days. And so, our democracy is, I think, under very serious threat because of the lack of compromise,” Daschle said.
“There have to be more spaces where senators can be honest about what they don’t know to get up to speed faster.” Senator Sasse used his experience in the Senate Intel Committee to share the differences he saw when cameras were not present.
“What would a Howard Baker do in today’s United States Senate to be effective?”
Towards the end of the episode, the Senators discuss if someone like Howard Baker could be effective today.
“I think right now it looks like tribalism is the way to get the algorithm to reward you with more likes for put downs, et cetera, but I think the long-term possibility, I think the Republic survives. And if the Republic survives, it’s going to be because we, the public, figured out how to consume information even in a periphery generated, all communicating to all kind of way,” remarked Sasse.
“I think we’re becoming more tribal and more unhinged when it comes to just plain civility in whatever setting. Politics probably set the bar at the lowest level, but we’re seeing it in other settings as well. And that’s not, in my view, not a very positive development,” he said.
If you liked this episode, you might also enjoy past episodes that discuss similar themes: Season 1 Episode 7 “What is the Senate Filibuster and Why Should We Care?”, Season 4 Episode 6 “How Can We Disagree Better?”, Season 5 Episode 3 “How Has Polarization Changed Governing?” All You Might be Right episodes can be found here.
Join the conversation on Twitter by following @UTBakerSchool, @PhilBredesen, and @BillHaslam.
Subscribe and follow You Might be Right wherever you get your audio content – including Apple Podcasts and Spotify – to never miss an episode, or sign up for our email list to receive new episodes straight to your inbox each week here.
