Stop Rampant Hyperpartisanship-ism!

or -- Waiting for the Middle

Is Bloomberg the story or is there a bigger picture? Writing about the vast “middle” of America rising from its long snooze to see the wreckage of the night before, wondering, how did I get here, isn't nearly as shocking as how long it took to wake up. Rather than feel comforted by this awakening, I'm watching a slow dance in déjà vu-time, like helicopters passing over the White House lawn in 1969. And that was one shitty year.
Bipartisan Group Eyes Independent Bid
First, Main Candidates Urged To Plan 'Unity' Government
By David S. Broder
Washington Post Staff Writer, Sunday, December 30, 2007
New York Mayor Michael R. Bloomberg, a potential independent candidate for president, has scheduled a meeting next week with a dozen leading Democrats and Republicans, who will join him in challenging the major-party contenders to spell out their plans for forming a "government of national unity" to end the gridlock in Washington.
[...] Conveners of the meeting include such prominent Democrats as former senators Sam Nunn (Ga.), Charles S. Robb (Va.) and David L. Boren (Okla.), and former presidential candidate Gary Hart. Republican organizers include Sen. Chuck Hagel (Neb.), former party chairman Bill Brock, former senator John Danforth (Mo.) and former New Jersey governor Christine Todd Whitman.
[...] Now, some people with high-level political and governmental credentials are moving to put muscle behind the effort. A letter from Nunn and Boren sent to those attending the Jan. 7 session said that "our political system is, at the least, badly bent and many are concluding that it is broken at a time where America must lead boldly at home and abroad. Partisan polarization is preventing us from uniting to meet the challenges that we must face if we are to prevent further erosion in America's power of leadership and example."
[...] "Today, we are a house divided," the letter said. "We believe that the next president must be able to call for a unity of effort by choosing the best talent available -- without regard to political party -- to help lead our nation."
[...] "Electing a president based solely on the platform or promises of one party is not adequate for this time," Boren said. "Until you end the polarization and have bipartisanship, nothing else matters, because one party simply will block the other from acting."
[...] "The important goal all of us share," Cohen said, "is to get government back to the center." Nunn, (said) “[...]: I think the country's at the tipping point, and it's going to take a lot more understanding by the electorate for anybody to be able to lead."
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2007/12/29/AR2007122901476.html