Each U.S.
presidential candidate has pledged, if elected, to reach
across party lines and bring the country together. It
is a familiar but often futile promise, leaving
Americans to wonder if divisiveness will again prevail
or if 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 Democratic and Republican 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 a failed compromise bill, backed
by President George W. 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
Republican 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 1973 Roe v. Wade ruling that widely
legalized 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 also cited health care and
climate change as other areas where bipartisan
approaches might succeed.
Reverend 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.'' (AP)
