No Labels Starts Up in Santa Fe

From Keira Hay, [Albuquerque, NM] Journal North:

Jarratt Applewhite is excited. Really excited.

“I haven’t felt this way since I was getting busted for Vietnam War protests and had a civil defense rap sheet as long as my arm,” Applewhite declared.

The object of his enthusiasm? No Labels, a national movement aimed at getting politicians of different stripes to work together in order to grease the wheels of the nation’s gridlocked governmental machinery.

Applewhite, a former elected official who once served on the Santa Fe School Board, said he’s become tired of turning on the television and seeing partisan leaders who disregard “rules of conduct that kindergartners learn.”

“Who would think that compromise could become a dirty word? It’s an indictment of the way we conduct ourselves as a country,” he said.

Applewhite isn’t alone in his embrace of the No Labels movement.

More than 30 people showed up at the Heart of Mary Retreat and Carmelite Center Saturday for the inaugural meeting of No Labels’ Santa Fe group.

The movement is quickly garnering supporters all over the Land of Enchantment. More than 1,000 New Mexicans have signed on to the No Labels cause and “we haven’t even really started yet,” organizer Dudley Hafner said.

Hafner and other Santa Fe organizers said Saturday they expect the movement to gain even more steam when No Labels holds a conference in New York City later this month. The event is expected to feature statements of support from politicians, including former President Bill Clinton and Sen. John McCain, R-Ariz.

No Labels has already signed up about 94 members of Congress, according to organizers. Former Utah Republican Gov. John Huntsman and Sen. Joe Manchin, D-W.Va., have agreed to be the group’s national leaders.

On Saturday, meeting attendees learned more about No Labels and participated in a short planning session. They also listened in on a conference call with No Labels co-founder Jonathan Miller, the current Secretary of Finance and Administration for the state of Kentucky.

Miller criticized national leaders as “hyper-partisan, paralyzed actors” who continue “to act against the interests of the nation.”

He said No Labels is focused on parallel outreaches: a grassroots, “living room” effort already comprised of some 600,000 ordinary people, and a growing group of Democratic and Republican Party politicians committed to working together to find solutions.

Miller and other No Labels organizers emphasize that the movement is about making the political system work better – not advocating for particular parties or ideologies.

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