Promoting Bipartisanship in a Period of Polarization

March 23, 2026

Authored by:

B.L. Wilson

Each year, the George Washington University's Graduate School of Political Management (GSPM) brings together expertise from across political aisles for the Fahrenkopf-Manatt Lecture in the spirit of bipartisanship. During this year's event, held last Tuesday in Jack Morton Auditorium, partisans found common ground on pressing national and international issues.

The series is named after Frank Fahrenkopf and the late Charles Manatt, the former chairs, respectively, of the Republican National Committee and the Democratic National Committee, who, despite disparate views, jointly supported and promoted the country's political and electoral processes.

Katie Phang, independent journalist and legal analyst, moderated the conversation with Norman Eisen, a senior fellow at the Brookings Institution, and Rina Shah, a geopolitical adviser and strategist. Adam Schwarze, a Republican candidate for the United States Senate from Minnesota, joined them on the stage for the final session.

Fahrenkopf, along with members of his and Manatt's family, was in attendance.

In opening remarks, Debbie Mucarsel-Powell, GSPM executive director, acknowledged the generosity and vision of Fahrenkopf and Manatt, which led to the endowment of the series.

"At a time when our country is experiencing deep polarization and political division, coming together tonight at gatherings like these matters more than ever," she said.

In addition to promoting bipartisan consensus, Mucarsel-Powell said the lectures serve GSPM's mission of honing the expertise of students, many of whom are already professionally part of the "evolving political landscape."

"At GSPM, we teach the next generation of leaders that they must understand that reaching across the aisle is not a weakness," she said.

She introduced Michele Manatt, the daughter of Charles Manatt, who has carried on her father's legacy and served as a foreign policy adviser in the administration of President Bill Clinton and on the House Foreign Affairs Committee.

Given that March is Women's History Month, Michele Manatt highlighted the contributions of both Charles Manatt and Fahrenkopf "to expanding the bench of women running for elective office and serving in party roles during their chairmanships throughout the 1980s."

Panelists of the 2026 Fahrenkopf-Manatt Lecture. (Christiani Inc.)

Phang then began the panel with Eisen and Shah by asking whether the proposed Safeguard American Voter Eligibility, or SAVE America Act, as it is known, is necessary.

The legislation would require photocopies of identifying information included with mail in ballots; require proof of citizenship to vote; and criminalize or open a person to criminal liability if they inadvertently registered a non-citizen to vote.

Eisen said all of that would impose a burden on registering and voting.

"I will tell you what is not bipartisan," said Eisen, "the incorrectly named, the SAVE America Act, which is actually one of the greatest acts of voter suppression and sabotage ever to be considered by the United States Congress."

Eisen noted that even the Heritage Foundation, a prominent conservative think tank, foundonly 24 instances of non-citizen voting between 2003 and 2023.

Shah, who described herself as a conservative Republican, generally agreed with Eisen.

"There is a danger here of eroding norms," she said. "I would just say election denialism, political denialism are an existential threat to our nation's 250-year history," which she thinks is why the Heritage Foundation publicized the numbers.

Shah said her home state, West Virginia, is mostly rural with many young people joining the military at a rate higher than the national average, which already creates difficulties in voting, as would name changes when having to produce identification and the fact that student and tribal IDs could not be used.

Phang then asked whether the Iranian conflict would contribute to further divisions among Republicans, as demonstrated by the recent resignation of Trump stalwart, Joe Kent, director of the National Counterterrorism Center over the handling of the war with Iran.

Shah said she agrees with Joe Kent on the issue and foresees a widening gulf among Republicans who support the war and those who don't.

As to whether democracy would be an issue in the election, Eisen said that the Democrats must simply provide a better definition of democracy for voters and explain that it means "not having health care raided to give tax breaks to billionaires," and "that it means a society of politics that are orderly and not this constant chaos."

"We need to make a commitment to the American people that we are going to deliver in these areas," he said. "That's what democracy is, delivering."

In the final session, Schwarze joined them on the stage. Thanking him for his service as a former Marine and Navy Seal, Phang asked if affordability could coexist with democracy since rising prices for gasoline and increases in tariffs are hitting farmers, manufacturers and small businesses in his state.

Schwarze responded that "rising costs from the fight in Iran are the reason the U.S. needs to be energy self-reliant."

He then defended the U.S. attack on Iran as "a knockout blow to the fourth largest land army in the world, a decisive military victory.

"This is going to be a limited conflict," Schwarze said. "We are going to turn the country back over, and it has to happen soon or it's going to be a failed foreign policy."