At dawn of Trump era, political center sees an opening
Donald Trump himself defies labels. His rise to power may signal opportunities for problem-solving, Republicans and Democrats say at a convening of the group No Labels.
Left to right, No Labels National Co-Chair and former Sen. Kay Bailey Hutchison, Sen. Roy Blunt (R) of Missouri, Sen. Steve Daines (R) of Montana, Rep. Kurt Schrader (D) of Oregon, Rep. Peter Welch (D) of Vermont, Rep. Ami Bera (D) of California, and Sen. Joe Manchin (D) of West Virginia, talk at the 1787: Constructing The Peace After The War event on Monday, Dec. 5, 2016 in Washington.
Paul Morigi/AP Images for No Labels
Washington
Presidential transitions are always a time of fluidity, 聽and therefore an opportunity for change. The old guard is moving on, the new guard is taking its place.
But the coming inauguration of Donald Trump is something else again, more than just a change of partisan control at the White House. It represents the potential for full-blown disruption, for better or worse.
President-elect Trump comes to office with no experience in government, and already clearly relishes flouting convention. He tweets with abandon, he shakes up foreign policy practices, he takes on major corporations.
Nominally a Republican, and to many a populist, Trump can be hard to label.
Enter the group No Labels. For more than five years, it has worked along the edges of government, trying to encourage a robust political center and facilitate bipartisan cooperation. It launched a 鈥淧roblem Solvers Caucus鈥 in Congress 鈥 more than 80 members, both Republican and Democrat.
But anyone who has followed Washington 鈥 and the intensely partisan divide that has produced gridlock on most major issues 鈥 knows that if anything, centrists have been losing ground in recent years.
That may be changing. Or at least that鈥檚 the hope of No Labels organizers, who plan to turn the caucus into a more coherent force, with paid staff, bylaws, and a formal leadership structure. No Labels founders think the moment may be ripe.
鈥淭he Trump coalition doesn鈥檛 look like the traditional Republican coalition,鈥 says William Galston, a fellow on governance at the Brookings Institution and a No Labels co-founder. 鈥淪o you might well believe this is a moment of greater fluidity and therefore possibility.鈥
That sense of possibility came through this week in Washington as Republicans and Democrats 鈥 senators and House members, governors and mayors 鈥 gathered in public and in private under the banner of No Labels and talked problem-solving. Issues on the table included infrastructure, health care, and tax reform.
But even if it鈥檚 too soon to talk nuts and bolts, it鈥檚 not too soon to imagine a new way of doing business.
鈥淒isruption isn鈥檛 a bad thing,鈥 said Sen. Roy Blunt (R) of Missouri at the conference. 鈥淭he new president makes us think about different ways to look at things, because he鈥檚 going to look at things in different ways.鈥
Democrat Peter Welch, the sole House member from Vermont, expressed hope that Republicans 鈥 soon to control both the executive and legislative branches 鈥 don鈥檛 overreach.
鈥淸House Speaker] Paul Ryan is going to have his work cut out for him, even though he continues to have a majority, because he鈥檚 going to have a wing in that party that鈥檚 going to push it too far,鈥 Congressman Welch said.
Democrats' choice
Democrats face a choice, too, after last month鈥檚 disappointing election, says Welch: 鈥淒o we fight for failure, or do we put out an affirmative agenda on topics we know need to be addressed?鈥
Some news reports show a Democratic desire to give Republicans a taste of their own treatment. Merrick Garland鈥檚 nomination to the Supreme Court, languishing since March without even a Senate hearing, has embittered some Democrats. They are planning delay tactics of their own to stall Trump鈥檚 agenda, .
Nobody is suggesting that Democrats fold their cards and give up. Their voters demand a fight. But they are also weary of business as usual, as are most Americans 鈥 including Trump supporters 鈥 and if they can get at least something out of unified Republican government by playing nice, perhaps both sides can claim victory.
New York Times columnist David Brooks sees .
鈥淲hat鈥檚 about to happen in Washington may be a little like the end of the Cold War 鈥 bipolarity gives way to multipolarity,鈥 Mr. Brooks writes. 鈥淎 system dominated by two party-line powers gives way to a system with a lot of different power centers.鈥
Instead of just 鈥淩鈥檚 and D鈥檚,鈥 he foresees a Trump-dominated populist nationalism, a more libertarian Freedom Caucus, and among the Democrats, two groups: a progressive caucus dominated by Sens. Bernie Sanders (I) of Vermont and Elizabeth Warren (D) of Massachusetts, and the Democratic 鈥渙ld guard,鈥 led by Senate minority leader Chuck Schumer and House minority leader Nancy Pelosi.
鈥淭he most important caucus formation will be the ideological center,鈥 he writes. 鈥淭here鈥檚 a lot of room between the alt-right and the alt-left, between Trumpian authoritarianism and Sanders socialism.鈥
Which leads him to No Labels.
25 million new jobs
Calls for centrist policy are at the heart of the organization鈥檚 motivation. The group鈥檚 鈥渘ational strategic agenda,鈥 derived from polling, is based on four goals: 25 million new jobs over the next 10 years; secure Social Security and Medicare for the next 75 years; balanced budget by 2030; and energy security by 2024.
This agenda predates the rise of Trump, but with his election, No Labels sees additional areas for cooperation. One is reforming the tax code, and then putting some of the new revenue into fixing and modernizing the nation鈥檚 infrastructure.
The purpose of holding the group鈥檚 conference this week, says No Labels senior strategist Ryan Clancy, was to keep everyone鈥檚 eyes on the ball.
鈥淲e knew it would be a nasty election, and that when it was over, the default operating assumption for Washington would be, 鈥楲et鈥檚 go back into the trenches and continue the permanent campaign,鈥 鈥 says Mr. Clancy. 鈥淲e wanted a moment where we could say, 鈥楽top, let鈥檚 end the campaign, and focus on governing.鈥 鈥
Goal: $50 million for centrist candidates
At the same time, No Labels is also making a bow to politics: Some of the group鈥檚 key backers have launched a plan to channel money 鈥 via super-political action committees 鈥 to centrists running for Congress. Typically, the most devoted partisan voters dominate turnout in primaries, which can doom centrist candidates. For centrist incumbents in Congress running for reelection, that may mean avoiding risky votes, lest they attract a more-partisan primary challenger.
Thus, the campaign to raise $50 million to spend on about two dozen races in the 2018 midterms.
鈥淭his super-PAC has really put some bite behind our bark,鈥 said financier Nelson Peltz at the No Labels conference on Monday.
Earlier, in , Mr. Peltz explained why centrist candidates need that extra help in getting 鈥渢heir鈥 voters to turn out for primaries.
鈥淭here has been no reward at the ballot box for being a problem solver, and there鈥檚 been no penalty for being an obstructionist,鈥 Mr. Peltz said.
In two test cases in this year's elections, in House races in Kansas and Florida, the two moderate candidates won their primaries.
Another source of hope for No Labels鈥 efforts came Monday afternoon, when 40 members of Congress held an off-the-record meeting with No Labels members to discuss problem-solving in the Trump era. Galston described the gathering as 鈥渁 fruitful exchange,鈥 noting that the legislators 鈥渃ame on time and stayed until the end, which is unusual.鈥