Politics is not just about the party line: Many politicians hold ideas that are left or right of their official positions on fiscal and social issues. Former Illinois Sen. Charles Percy was one such politicians. Percy, who died Saturday at the age of 91, made his career in Chicago. He was considered a moderate Republican but worked with congressional colleagues from both sides of the aisle. He also broke away from machine politics; in Chicago he brought in an independent group to evaluate candidates for the federal bench. One of his recommendations was retired Supreme Court Justice John Paul Stevens. Justice Stevens joined Eight Forty-Eight to share his memories of Sen. Percy.

Then, to dissect whether Percy’s moderate politics were a thing of the past, host Alison Cuddy was joined by Marilyn Katz, a veteran of many campaigns and president of MK Communications, a public policy strategy firm.

Music Button: Six Parts Seven, “Confusing Possibilities”, from the CD Casually Smashed To Pieces, (Suicide Squeeze)