Panel to candidates: End partisanship now

Panel to candidates:
End partisanship now
12:00 AM CST on Tuesday, January 8, 2008
By BRUCE TOMASO / The Dallas Morning News
btomaso@dallasnews.com

NORMAN, Okla. – Calling the United States "a nation at risk," a bipartisan group of current and former elected officials called on the presidential candidates Monday to put aside "rampant partisanship" and pledge to work together for the good of all Americans.

"If we allow polarizing politics to continue, we will remain a nation divided, and no matter who is elected this fall, he or she will not have a mandate for governing," the officials said in a joint statement issued at the University of Oklahoma.

Among the officials was New York City Mayor Michael Bloomberg, whose attendance fueled speculation that he will join the presidential race as an independent candidate.

Mr. Bloomberg, a billionaire who founded Bloomberg News, has done nothing to tamp out that speculation. On Monday, he declined to address his political plans, saying only: "I am not a candidate. I am a former businessman and the mayor."

The group called on all presidential candidates to specify how they would "establish a government of national unity" and to articulate "specific strategies for reducing polarization and reaching bipartisan consensus."

They also urged the candidates to promise to "go beyond tokenism" in appointing Cabinet members, choosing "the most qualified people available regardless of political affiliation."

The officials – current and former U.S. senators, former governors and others – were invited to Norman by Oklahoma University President David Boren, a former Democratic governor and U.S. senator.

Mr. Boren made a point to emphasize that the OU gathering was not about a Bloomberg candidacy.

"The common denominator of this group gathered here today is a demonstrated willingness to work together to help our country," he said in introducing the panel.

However, he told The New York Times last week that if the major parties failed to embrace the call for increased bipartisanship, he would encourage the mayor to consider an independent bid.

Published reports have suggested that Mr. Bloomberg will wait until after Feb. 5 to announce his intentions.

That's because the presumptive nominees of both major parties could well be decided on that date, when 24 states – including California, New York, New Jersey, Illinois and Massachusetts – will hold primaries or caucuses.

On Monday, Mr. Boren said his friend should be in no hurry to make up his mind.

"An independent candidate with the resources of, say, a Mayor Bloomberg could get into this thing in March or even slightly later," the OU president told reporters after the panel conference.

He said the various procedures for getting one's name on state ballots don't kick in until March, so "there's plenty of time to wait and assess what the likely nominees are saying."

Texas is one of the first states where Mr. Bloomberg would have to mobilize, and quickly.

To qualify for the ballot, he would have to gather the signatures of 74,000 registered Texas voters, and none of them can vote in the Democratic or Republican primaries on March 4.

He couldn't start that process until after March 4, and he would have to submit his petitions by May 12.

Mr. Boren said bipartisanship is "not some romantic dream," but rather the approach to governance that served the U.S. well for decades after World War II.

But more recently, said former Georgia Democratic Sen. Sam Nunn, reading from the panel's joint statement, "too many in both our parties have sought to energize their bases instead of reaching out to address the issues that concern our nation as a whole. They appeal to extremes and marginalize those in the common-sense center."