As members of New Haven’s branch of the national “No Label” movement, which seeks to encourage civil discourse across party lines, gathered to watch and critique President Barack Obama’s “State of the Union” speech on Tuesday night, they and the president faced the same question: This all sounds great. What are you actually going to do?
It is the one question that “No Labels” supporters, who advocate for unity of Americans around a “shared purpose” separate from party lines, know could threaten their coalition.
“Sooner or later you’re going to have to take a position, and some people are going to leave,” said New Haven businessman Brett Hellerman, the Republican co-chair of the CT’s “No Labels” chapter.
Jessica Cole Photo
Hellerman spoke as part of a panel both preceding and following President Obama’s State of The Union address Tuesday night. The event, titled “State of the Unity,” was jointly sponsored by “No Labels,” the Black Student Alliance at Yale, the New Haven Green Party, the Yale Democrats, and the Yale Chapter of the NAACP. It brought more than 50 people together to watch the address and discuss its implications for the tone of American politics. Jesse Phillips, there in his capacity as a representative from the NAACP; Allan Brison of the Green Party; and LaTisha Campbell, a Yale student were also on the panel, which was moderated by the Democratic co-chair of “No Labels” Debra Hauser.
“No Labels” is a new national movement with roots in New Haven. It’s trying to accomplish what President Obama tried to accomplish in his speech Monday night: Move the national discourse away from partisan bickering and toward a focus on solutions to tough economic, social and governmental challenges. It’s unclear at that point whether “nonpartisan” means “centrist” — positions the largest number of people could theoretically agree with — or “new” and outside of rigid ideological boundaries.
A sense of urgency and need to get things done beyond giving speeches was expressed by many members of the crowd, who applauded, laughed, and shouted out comments throughout Obama’s speech.
“I think it was one of the best speeches he’s ever made,” said one audience member afterwards.
Someone else in the room disagreed. He raised his hand to dispute the substance, saying that he found the speech to be an excerpt of campaign-like talking points: “He gave no specifics at all. By not talking about a specific proposal, he stops the public from understanding the debate.”
Hauser stepped in to redirect the conversation back to questions of bipartisanship, only to have a familiar doubt creep back up from the crowd.
“We all think [Obama’s] going to do it our way,” said a man as he shook his head. He compared Obama’s dilemma to that of “No Labels,” which has sought to touch lightly on policy issues and instead focus on a method of engagement rather than a particular platform. “The problem is, he’s going to have to make a decision sooner or later. How do we take care of these people who followed along [up until then]…and then get disappointed?”
Paul Bass File Photo
Previous articles about “No Labels”:
• Can “No Labels” Spark a Climate Fix?
• Goldson Testifies to “No Labels”
• Catchy Beat: Can You Organize To It?
• “No Labels” Gets Local Foothold