A bid to build centrism in US politics

From the podium came fighting words. The target of all the punching: America's partisan politics.

First up was New York Mayor Michael Bloomberg, delivering a scathing admonition: "The politics of partisanship and the resulting inaction and excuses have paralyzed decisionmaking," he told a group of some 200 national politicos and guests. We can turn around … our wrongheaded course, if we start basing our actions on ideas [and] shared values … without regard to party."

The next day, his partner in taking to task the political climate, California Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger (R), echoed: "There really is no more urgent issue facing America today than … bridging the political divide."

The two politicians, used as bookends for a conference titled, "Ceasefire!" have become national poster boys for a nascent movement to restore statesmanship and the art of negotiation to a polarized political scene – at least on the state and city levels. Some call it "postpartisanship," a term repeated by Governor Schwarzenegger, whose job-approval ratings have soared since he began reaching out to Democratic lawmakers on initiatives in California.

Others, such as Mayor Bloomberg – the former Democrat-turned-Republican-turned-independent – call it simply "nonpartisan leadership." The emphasis is on ideas over ideology, building trust instead of enmity with opposing politicians, embracing innovation with more regard to citizens than to which party thought of it first – or who gets credit. The idea also plays into the yearning of an increasingly frustrated voting public for another principle: Get it done.

"Arnold is the perfect example of the moment for broad coalition-building going on outside Washington," Steven Schier, a political scientist at Carleton College, in Northfield, Minn. "Bloomberg is providing the public argument and the rhetoric about what is wrong with the partisan, national political system," he adds, describing Washington politics as "essentially warfare between two armed camps."

Bloomberg, too, has reversed a dreadful job-approval rating, below 20 percent. After a series of get-it-done initiatives – from a crackdown on illegal guns to bans on smoking and trans-fats to affordable housing initiatives – his rating is now in the 70s.

The New York mayor and the California governor are hammering a note that resonates with the public. Seventy-five percent like leaders who are willing to compromise, and 60 percent like leaders whose positions are a mix of liberal and conservative, according to the Pew Research Center for the People and the Press in Washington.

"The analysis [of Bloomberg and Schwarzenegger] is exactly correct," says Doug Bailey, cofounder of Unity08, a group that wants to nominate a bipartisan "unity ticket" for the 2008 presidential election, using a first-ever online convention. "The people know the system is broken at a time when there are more crucial issues in front of the government than at any point in our lifetimes. Yet they know the two parties can't sit down and talk in any effective way."

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