This is an interesting development. I wonder what impact it could possibly have?
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.
The idea of having something other than the mess we have in Washington is very seductive. Yet can it even have a hope of succeeding? More details below.
The list of participants is anything but a clear picture of national unity:
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.
The two party system in the United States really turns me off. Yet we seem to never be able to get beyond it. I favor a parlimentary system with the possibility of a no confidence vote bringing down a criminal administration like the one we have now. A third party is far from that. Here are some more participants:
Others who have indicated that they plan to attend the one-day session include William S. Cohen, a former Republican senator from Maine and defense secretary in the Clinton administration; Alan Dixon, a former Democratic senator from Illinois; Bob Graham, a former Democratic senator from Florida; Jim Leach, a former Republican congressman from Iowa; Susan Eisenhower, a political consultant and granddaughter of former president Dwight D. Eisenhower; David Abshire, president of the Center for the Study of the Presidency; and Edward Perkins, a former U.S. ambassador to the United Nations.
It will be interesting to see what comes of this. I support Dennis Kuchinich who will not have a chance. There are things about all the front runners that make me less than enthusiastic about them. Therefore a three way contest might give some room for alternatives that could be appealing. We shall see.
Update: source is David Broder Washington Post