Keller @ Large: Plenty Of Labels At 'No Labels'
BOSTON (CBS) - I missed the presidential candidate forum in New Hampshire Monday put together by No Labels, a bipartisan group that wants to replace the poison flowing through our political discourse with something more productive.
But judging from what I read of the event, it was an illuminating study in contrast.
On one side, you had the philosophy of the organizers, that what's wrong with our politics is "the hyper-partisan viewpoint that leads far too many of our leaders (and citizens) to completely dismiss, ignore or question the motives of people from the other party."
On the other side, you had one of the guest speakers, GOP frontrunner Donald Trump, who either didn't know or didn't care what No Labels stands for.
According to Politico, Trump "served up 40 minutes of cognitive dissonance," including his trademark schoolyard-style references to President Obama and his Republican opponents. Instead of challenging the content of the president's recent interview on "60 Minutes," Trump said Mr. Obama "bombed." He tried to talk over a young woman in the crowd who wanted to question him about women's rights. And he claimed that he only insults other candidates after they've been "nasty" to him.
Listen to Jon's commentary:
It escapes me how any of this improves our political culture, but why would Trump care about that? He is succeeding so far by exploiting resentment and venom, not defusing it.
And he's not the only one.
Sen. Lindsay Graham, a past target of Trump ridicule, told reporters at the event that Trump's ideas were "gibberish."
Quite the snide label at an event devoted to avoiding them.
