The Center Strikes Back: David Brooks NYT Column Heralds Emergence of No Labels-Led "New Center"

WASHINGTON, Nov. 29, 2016 /PRNewswire-USNewswire/ -- In the wake of a historically divisive election, No Labels is making an aggressive play to unify citizens and leaders around a "New Center," a development described in this morning's David Brooks The New York Times column. No Labels is set to unveil leaders of the New Center on December 5 in Washington, D.C. at 1787: Constructing the Peace After the War, a first-of-its-kind leaders meeting featuring members of Congress, mayors, governors and leaders from across the country.

In describing the current political climate, Brooks suggests that "what's about to happen in Washington may be a little like the end of the Cold War—bipolarity gives way to multipolarity. A system dominated by two party-line powers gives way to a system with a lot of different power centers. He says, "The most important caucus formation will be in the ideological center."

Brooks draws on a recent memo written by Brookings Scholar and No Labels co-founder Bill Galston and Weekly Standard editor Bill Kristol who defined the New Center as:

One that does not split the difference between Left and Right but offers a principled alternative to both.  Its core tenets—Opportunity, Security, Accountability, and Ingenuity—can respond to the challenges of the present and chart a path to the future … We do not know what policies a New Center will yield.  Nor can we predict what institutional form or even party alignment it will take.  But the alternative to a coherent and effective New Center is a degree of public discontent that could end by undermining democratic self-government itself.

The shape of this New Center will be a central focus of discussion on Dec. 5 at the 1787 meeting. Named for the year our Founders wrote the Constitution, 1787 aims to awaken the same spirit of bipartisan cooperation that existed in Philadelphia over 200 years ago. In particular, 1787 will include discussions led by an emerging Congressional Problem Solvers Caucus—a group of House Democrats and Republicans who will be working to forge bipartisan agreement in the first 100 days of the new administration on priority issues like infrastructure investment and tax reform.

No Labels exists to bring America's political leaders together to solve our nation's toughest problems. We are a citizens' movement forging a New Center in American politics that fights for an inclusive political process and supports policies that advance No Labels' four core values of Opportunity, Security, Ingenuity and Accountability. No Labels has inspired the creation of an emerging Congressional Problem Solvers Caucus—featuring House Democrats and Republicans—committed to working constructively across the aisle to get things done.

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