A Time for Transpartisanship

HuffingtonPost article:

Yesterday's news about Arlen Specter changing parties, likely leading to a filibuster-proof Democratic majority in the Senate, has Democrats justifiably elated about the possibilities to move through bolder legislation.

Some jubilation is justified but we need to be careful not to neglect a still deeper need for our country -- to heal our fractious political process and move beyond partisan bickering in a way that leads both major parties to work collaboratively on creating the best solutions for the American people rather than simply jockeying for power. The challenges we face are too vast to handle from one side of the ideological aisle alone; it's an all hands-on-deck moment in history.

The final decisive tipping of the power scales to the Democrats can thus mark the shift from an era of partisan horse-trading to transpartisan collaboration on solutions. The former is an era of politics by force; the dominant party simply jams its ideological agenda down the throat of the other. Or, when blocked, that party offers pork-style concessions that don't benefit the American people. This style of politics soured the American people on our government, undermined our sense of hope and created divides in what should be one, united American people.

Read full article at Huffington Post