Some Republicans did not even seem to know that Mr. McCain had returned until they were met by throngs of reporters outside their closed-door lunch.
One of those senators, Jeff Merkley of Oregon, said Senate Democrats had a "very healthy debate" on Friday in a closed-door lunch dedicated to the rules-change debate.
He spoke to his colleagues at a closed-door lunch in the Capitol, quoting his mentor, former Senator Mike Mansfield, Democrat of Montana, to exhort the Senate to work better together.
Her warning, made during a closed-door lunch in Brussels, highlighted renewed debate over whether Europe could afford to impose tougher rules on genetically modified products than other parts of the world.
Senator Joseph Biden, a Delaware Democrat who is the ranking minority member of the Foreign Relations Committee, was given the floor to respond only at a closed-door lunch the next day.
Senator Biden made an effort to balance the portrayal of American opinion at a closed-door lunch with diplomats, at which he was outspoken in his disagreements with Mr. Helms.
In a closed-door lunch, the majority leader, Mitch McConnell, conducted a poll in which virtually everyone raised their hands when asked if the 44-year-old should jump back into the race.
During his closed-door lunch with other Democrats, Senator Harry Reid of Nevada, the majority leader, proposed a plan in a which the top tax rate on income over $1 million would be raised to a top rate of 40 percent, rather than the current 35 percent.
With the Senate expected to reach votes on possible resolutions sometime next week, the signs of the new campaign seeped out after a weekly closed-door lunch in which Republican senators engaged in what participants described as a heated debate over how to approach the issue.
Christie attended parts of the NGA conference here on Saturday, including a closed-door lunch for governors and an RGA reception Saturday night, where he addressed the crowd.
