Sen. Jon Kyl, R-Ariz., announced Thursday that he will not seek another term in the U.S. Senate.
Kyl’s career is a refutation of several misconceptions about politics.
First, Kyl’s career proves that unyielding principle does not have to be paired with angry and uncooperative partisanship.
A conservative of the staunchest sort, Kyl is nothing if he is not principled. He consistently ranks as one of the most conservative senators. He is not simply a conservative vote, but a conservative leader. He is, with ease, what a stampede of presidential contenders will attempt to become this year.
But peers on both sides of the aisle respect Sen. Kyl. He has resisted, again and again, the temptation all officeholders have to demagogue their opponents — to play to an audience.
Nor does talent and influence have to seek the spotlight to be consequential.
Sen. Kyl, quietly and without fanfare, carved out an enormously important niche in national policy. From national security to victims’ rights to judicial nominations, Kyl has played a major role in American politics.
Time magazine named Kyl one of “America’s 10 Best Senators,” and later, one of the “Time 100” most influential people in the world.
You’d never know it by watching him operate, though. In a world where the media is oxygen and the spotlight essential, Sen. Kyl just worked. The old “workhorse, not a show horse” analogy fits here, but it doesn’t fully capture Kyl’s career.
Many politicians are better campaigners than officeholders. When you are a campaigner at heart, everything looks like a campaign. But Kyl was always a better senator than campaigner. The work of holding office was why he endured the campaigns. Perhaps this explains his effectiveness — governing never bored him.
It is examples like Kyl’s that also point to the shortsightedness of reflexive hostility to experience in Washington.
Certainly, Washington is home to too many lifers. Too often, politicians lose track of what animated them when they were first elected. They arrive in the nation’s capitol with fervor and abundant virtue, only to wither with the years as their ambitions grow.
But Kyl never did. Experience, in his case, translated to relationships, to influence, to effectiveness.
The shame of it is that a man like Sen. Kyl is more necessary now than ever. With Republicans on the ascent, it’s critical that Kyl’s blend of knowledge, cooperation and quiet leadership become a hallmark of the GOP majority.
The new Republicans in the House and Senate may think the route to consequence is glamorous; full of stirring speeches and Capraesque stands. They may think that that their voices should be loud and that winning elections is a task of conquest, not one of persuasion. But Kyl’s career should remind them that you sometimes win elections — easily, in Kyl’s case — by working hard and by making friends and by knowing what you’re doing.
It’s difficult when the best choose to move on, especially when they are still needed. But Sen. Kyl’s retirement is earned, and no one should begrudge him his choice of when to leave.
Sen. Kyl served Arizona with dignity, maturity and constant poise. The Senate is poorer to have lost him, but America is richer for his service.
Reach Will at wmunsil@asu.edu
