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Uniting America:
Easier Said Than Done
By DAVID CRARY, from
the Web, February 7, 2008
NEW YORK -- Each of Super
Tuesday's main survivors pledges, if elected, to reach across party lines and
bring the nation together. It's a familiar but often futile promise,
leaving Americans to wonder if divisiveness will again prevail or if — just
maybe — a window is open for a more civil, constructive era.
On some issues — including health care and global warming — activists and civic
leaders already see glimmers of movement toward bipartisan solutions. On
other matters — Iraq, abortion, gay rights, racial disparities — differences
seem stark and compromise elusive.
"People should have a historic perspective on how deep and difficult these
issues are," said Faye Wattleton, a former head of Planned Parenthood who is now
president of the Center for the Advancement of Women. "You can't just
declare, 'Now we'll all come together,' and people will lay down their swords."
The Rev. Joel Hunter, a megachurch pastor from Florida who has urged fellow
Christian conservatives to take up issues like poverty and the environment, said
a growing number of Americans, especially young people, are distancing
themselves from party labels.
"They know the problems are so big that it's going to take more than one party
and one category of people to solve them," he said. "Ultimately, the
voices of cooperation will emerge victorious, but I think it's going to be a
battle, and it's going to get very nasty from now until November."
Throughout the campaign, Sen. John McCain, the Republican front-runner, has
appealed strongly to independent voters with his image as a maverick ready to
work outside strict party lines.
On the Democratic side, Sen. Barack Obama also has drawn independent support
with his pitch to move beyond partisanship. His rival, Sen. Hillary Rodham
Clinton, has touted her ability to work with colleagues of both parties.
Karlyn Bowman, an expert on polling with the right-of-center American Enterprise
Institute, said both McCain and Obama, if nominated, might have strong appeal
outside their own parties.
"There's a real opportunity, because people see these guys as straight shooters,
for them to reach out," she said.
On Iraq, partisan differences are gaping: McCain has termed the Democrats' troop
withdrawal plans "surrender." But illegal immigration could be one of the
most intriguing barometers of any serious desire for cooperation.
McCain was a lead sponsor last year of the failed compromise bill, backed by
President Bush and most Democrats, that would have tightened border security
while also allowing illegal immigrants a pathway toward citizenship.
During the campaign, as McCain sought support from GOP conservatives, he has
stressed that border security would be his first priority, while his Democratic
rivals continued to advocate a comprehensive approach.
"There's no question this issue can be a polarizing one. We've seen
Republicans demagogue it and Democrats tiptoe around it," said Janet Murgia,
president of the National Council of La Raza, a Hispanic civil rights group.
"But there's a real opportunity for unity out there," she said. "We need
people who understand the importance of showing leadership and addressing this
issue in a way to bring this country together instead of dividing it."
While the immigration debate has pushed increasing numbers of Hispanics into the
Democratic camp, an overwhelming majority of blacks already are entrenched there
— perceiving the Republicans as uninterested in their priorities.
"On general issues, McCain has demonstrated an ability for bipartisan behavior,"
said Yvonne Scruggs-Leftwich, a board member of the Black Leadership Forum.
"But he's had no policies for cities and urban areas where so many poor people
live."
Among the most divisive issues in recent elections have been "hot-button" social
topics — notably abortion and gay rights. On these, McCain differs sharply
with the Democratic contenders; he supports the policy that bars gays from
serving openly in the military and favors repeal of the Roe v. Wade
ruling that established a right to abortion.
On such issues, said Scruggs-Leftwich, the appointment of Supreme Court justices
could test any new president's pledge of bipartisanship. She noted that
McCain has been indicating to conservatives that he would appoint justices in
the mold of Chief Justice John Roberts and Justice Samuel Alito, whose stances
have antagonized many liberal groups.
"You can't expect to engender willingness to collaborate from liberals and
moderates when you have these kind of divisive appointments," she said.
On economic policy, the Democrats want to repeal tax cuts for the wealthy; the
Republicans do not. But Jason Furman, a Brookings Institution economist,
sees some opportunity for bipartisan compromise on broader fiscal issues.
"The starting point is that there's a remarkable degree of unanimity among the
public that the economy is not doing that well," he said.
He cited health care and climate change as other areas where bipartisan
approaches might succeed.
The Rev. Bob Edgar, a former congressman and National Council of Churches leader
who now heads Common Cause, said most Americans are fed up with political
bickering.
"People want to return to civility. They want Capitol Hill to work.
They want Congress to put aside its partisanship on issues like health care and
global warming," he said. "But you're not going to have legislation unless
you have public officials who are serving the public interest instead of the
special interest."
The window for ambitious bipartisan overtures by a new president could be
narrow, according to Norman Ornstein, a congressional scholar with the American
Enterprise Institute. He suggested the president-elect start working on
such plans the day after the election.
"You need to set up a program to get a couple of big things done within the
first few months and then hope you can get people from the wings of both parties
who don't want to just thumb their noses at it," he said. "If you can't do
that early on, the odds are very limited that you'll be able to do it later."
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