No Labels group pushes for bipartisanship
SMU Political Science Professor Cal Jillson talks about some Republicans and Democrats sitting side by side at Obama's State of the Union address.
By Anna M. Tinsley
The Fort Worth Star-Telegram
Maybe Tuesday could be a new start.
After years of intense partisanship, some Republicans and Democrats say they'll sit side by side -- rather than on opposite sides of the chamber -- to listen to President Barack Obama's State of the Union address.
Some chalk up the budding congenial effort in Congress to the recent Arizona shootings. But a group of people from all parties have been working for more than a month, through a new group called No Labels, to bring bipartisanship back to Washington, D.C., and government in general. . .
Some political observers applaud the effort.
"It's a noble endeavor, but one whose success is certainly questionable," said Cal Jillson, a political science professor at Southern Methodist University in Dallas. "Hyper-partisanship is cooked into American politics at this point. It has developed over the past three decades, and now it's the standard operating procedure for politicians."
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