Summit pushes ‘unity,’ not candidate

NORMAN, Okla. – Issuing a call for “national unity,” New York Mayor Michael Bloomberg and a nonpartisan summit here Monday implored the 2008 White House contenders to change the tenor of presidential politics but insisted that fielding an independent candidate isn’t how they want to do it.

“The focus of our meeting is not to stop any candidate or to start any candidate; it’s to be a catalyst,” said University of Oklahoma President David Boren, a former senator and an organizer of the summit, which was held on his campus.

However, Boren – much like Bloomberg has over the past several months – fanned speculation even as he seemed to be dismissing it. “Our two-party system has served us pretty well. We just need to get it working again,” he said. “I hope it won’t come to a necessity of people like me and others having to push someone like Mayor Bloomberg to run.”

For his part, Bloomberg offered a carefully phrased denial when asked how he might bring the country together if he were “to run for higher office.”

“Well, look, I’m not a candidate, No. 1,” he said. “What has happened is that people have stopped working together. Government is dysfunctional.”

Although the event drew 17 prominent Democrats, Republicans and independents – including former senators, governors, ambassadors and cabinet members – the spotlight shone most brightly on New York’s billionaire mayor and the prospect of him waging a self-financed presidential bid.

The group issued what it called a “nonpartisan appeal to a nation at risk,” urging the presidential candidates to commit to appointing cabinet members and governing without regard to party affiliation, as well as offering specific proposals for how they would “establish a government of national unity.”