NEW YORK – A mishmash coalition of Democrats, Republicans and independents came together here Monday to launch a political organization that the members hope will change behavior in what they decried as an increasingly hyperpartisan system.
The group, No Labels, is not a third party, its founders say, but rather a home for Americans who have felt homeless amid the recent growth of the liberal netroots and tea party movements, as well as the deepening partisan divide in Congress.
“What strikes me when I leave Washington is the extent to which there’s a huge disconnect between Washington and the rest of the country,” one of the group’s founders, Mark McKinnon, said in an interview. “The rest of the country is not hyperpartisan. They say: ‘There’s MoveOn on the left, the tea party on the right and nothing in the middle for me.’ We’re trying to become a microphone for those voices, to create a system that rewards and gives a shout-out for good behavior.”
Full Story: No Labels movement launches in N.Y., pledges to fight partisanship