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http://www.tulsaworld.com/news/article.aspx?articleID=071230_1__WASHI40351Bipartisan group to meet at OU to discuss 2008 race By JIM MYERS World Washington Bureau
12/30/2007 4:30 PM
WASHINGTON -- University of Oklahoma President David Boren said Sunday he will co-host a meeting next week with other prominent Americans to try and refocus the 2008 presidential campaign on restoring the nation’s standing in the world and end the partisan bickering at home. Boren emphasized his support for the nation’s two-party system but left the door open to supporting an independent candidate if the current presidential hopefuls fail to embrace a more bipartisan approach.
He said his co-host for the OU event will be Sam Nunn of Georgia, like Boren, a former Democratic U.S. senator. “Our political system is, at the least, badly bent and many are concluding that it is broken at a time where America must lead boldly at home and abroad,” the two men stated in a Dec. 18 letter to expected participants. “The next president of the United States will be faced with what has been described as a ‘gathering storm’ both at home and abroad.”
Their letter listed a range of challenges the nation faces such as energy, education and the environment. In a telephone interview from his office at OU, Boren used even more pointed comments to describe how serious the current challenges are for the nation. “People are truly frightened by what is happening to our standing in the world,” he said. Boren cited polls that show for the first time a large number of the American people are pessimistic about the nation’s future. Much of that, he said, can be blamed on partisan bickering.
“Watching the things like the YouTube debate just depressed me because there was so little focus on the things that will affect our future,” Boren said. He said the goal of the OU meeting, which will begin the evening of the Jan. 6 with the main event the next day, is to come up with brief joint statement covering a number of issues and then challenge the current presidential candidates to respond. Boren said the candidates would be challenged to be specific. One of the commitments he hopes to get from those now running is to form a truly bipartisan administration, one that will go well beyond tokenism.
“We don’t need a Republican administration or a Democratic administration. We need an American administration,” Boren said. Those expected to attend include former U.S. Sens. Bill Cohen, a Maine Republican who also served as Defense secretary in the Clinton administration; John Danforth, a Missouri Republican; Bob Graham, a Florida Democrat; Chuck Robb, a Virginia Democrat; and Gary Hart, a Colorado Democrat; and former New Jersey Gov. Christine Todd Whitman, a Republican who led the Environmental Protection Agency under the current President Bush.
New York Mayor Michael Bloomberg is another invitee, and his attendance has led some to speculate the event will boost a Bloomberg campaign for the White House. “This is definitely not a Bloomberg for president meeting although he is attending,” Boren said. “Bloomberg did not schedule the meeting.” Boren said some of those at the meeting may be open to a Bloomberg candidacy, adding others will continue to support their own nominees.
