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| Originally Aired: January 7, 2008 |
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Moderates Meet, Discuss Bridging Partisan Divides |
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| Representatives of both the Republican and Democratic parties met Monday at the University of Oklahoma -- a meeting also attended by New York Mayor Michael Bloomberg, who many speculate is considering an independent presidential run. Former Sen. David Boren, a participant in the forum, details the discussions. |
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JIM LEHRER: Next, another possible way to go this election year. Margaret Warner has that story. MARGARET WARNER: As the major party candidates scrambled for votes in New Hampshire, today's meeting in Norman, Oklahoma, raised the specter of a third party campaign. Seventeen prominent Republicans, Democrats and independents challenged the major party candidates to lay out how they would end partisan gridlock if elected. Among those present, New York Mayor Michael Bloomberg. Organizers said earlier they may rally around an independent Bloomberg candidacy. Former Senator David Boren, president of the University of Oklahoma, hosted the meeting, and he joins us now. Senator and President Boren, thank you for being with us. What do you and your group hope to achieve by the challenge that you issued to the major party candidates today? FORMER SEN. DAVID BOREN (D), Oklahoma: Well, Margaret, we hope that the American people and the press will join with us in asking questions of the major candidates about what they'll do to end the partisan gridlock in this country that is literally paralyzing us and keeping us from acting. The country is in trouble. Obviously, our approval as a nation is at an all-time low around the world. We have serious economic problems. We're selling off our assets. And much of this is happening because we're so polarized on a partisan basis that we can't act. For example, it takes 60 votes to pass anything through the Senate. You can't do that with just Democrats or Republicans. You have to have a coalition. So, today, we laid down a challenge to all the candidates. Tell us, are you willing to form an American government, an American, bipartisan administration, a truly bipartisan cabinet, not just with a few token members from the other party, but one where key posts go to people in the other party? What kind of strategy do you have to build a bipartisan consensus on the issues so that we can move ahead to get back budget discipline and restore our relationship with the rest of the world? It was a very upbeat meeting. It gave a lot of people hope. It was very interesting to me that, when the panel walked into the press conference, over 1,500 people present rose in a standing, prolonged ovation, because the American people want this partisan gridlock to stop. |
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No Bloomberg candidacy yet
MARGARET WARNER: Now, let me ask you this. This meeting has been characterized, as you know in many circles, as essentially the opening move for an independent candidacy by Michael Bloomberg. Is it?DAVID BOREN: No, it really isn't. And that was not its purpose. We tried to make it clear, as we invited those to participate, that we didn't have any hidden agenda. Certainly, the mayor was there. He made a very important contribution. But we really hope that the two-party system will work, that the two-party system will rise to the occasion, and that these candidates, the likely nominees as they emerge in both parties, will pledge to create a bipartisan cabinet, a bipartisan administration, will do what we used to do, reach across the aisle, form a consensus, and really get things done. We don't have any time to waste. I think the thing that finally caused us to act and to call this meeting was the polling data which shows that, for the first time in our history, a majority of the American people do not believe that our future would be as great as our past. We can't allow those results to stand; we must do something about it. And I think at the heart of it is this feeling that we are paralyzed and not able to meet the challenges like we've always been able to do in the past as Americans. Politicians divide us with hot-button issues. Real leaders find ways to bring us together so that we can meet challenges. And that's what we desperately need. |
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Call for greater bipartisanship
MARGARET WARNER: Finally, though, the voters of Iowa did, in fact, choose, on both sides, Barack Obama and Mike Huckabee, who are both talking about exactly what you're talking about, transcending the partisan divide. Are the voters already ahead of you on this, and maybe even the parties?DAVID BOREN: Well, I don't know that they're ahead of us. I think we're all in the same place. And, certainly, 17 people in Norman, Oklahoma, can't bring about this change. It's going to have to take all of the American people and the media to really insist that the candidates answer these questions. You know, I am encouraged. I think we've already been hearing talk from some of the candidates about bipartisanship. But it takes more than talk. What we asked today for was a strategy from the candidates. What exactly do they plan to do to bring us together? We asked them: Will you tell the American people that you will appoint a truly bipartisan cabinet? It's up to the American people to really ask those questions, get those answers from the candidates. And, frankly, I think the first choice of most of those people gathered is that the two-party system meet the challenge, that we don't have to take a timeout and move to an independent candidacy to get this done. So that's what we hope will happen. We hope we'll be a catalyst for change and refocusing the campaign on exactly how we get this job done. MARGARET WARNER: David Boren, thank you so much for being with us. DAVID BOREN: Thank you. |
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Hondurans Vote for New President, Hoping to Put Political Chaos Behind Them
