'No Labels' Political Convention Awaits Charlie Crist in New York City

The "No Labels" crusade kicked off this morning in New York City with a speech by columnist David Brooks echoing the refrain: "We have good people stuck in a bad system."

Former Florida state Sen. Dave Aronberg, reporting from the meeting, said, "The No. 1 enemy here is partisanship. The leaders of this movement emphasize that this is not about a third party, but an end to the hyperpartisanship that divides America."

Gov. Charlie Crist is listed as one of the speakers, but hadn't arrived because of air-travel delays in Atlanta. Others on the dais: MSNBC's Joe Scarborough, U.S. Sen. Evan Bayh, D-Ind., and New York Mayor Michael Bloomberg, who has taken a leading role in forming the "No Labels" movement.

"Specific issues are not being debated -- only a discussion of general themes such as deficit reduction and some good-government reforms such as Fair Districts," Aronberg reports. (Ellen Frieden, head of the Fair Districts' Amendment 5 and 6 campaign, was also listed as a speaker.)

"This leads audience members to openly wonder 'where do we go from here?' Can a group that stresses bipartisanship and civility and not divisive issue debates survive beyond the conference?" Aronberg wonders.

"Aware of this, the No Labels organizers have established a 2011 Goals list that includes organizing in all 435 congressional districts and starting a PAC to help centrist candidates within their respective party primaries -- and only in primaries."

Aronberg passes along these sidenotes:

• "At last night's reception, I met several people who were registered Democrats who were about to change their party affiliation to NPA -- until they found out about No Labels. If this is true, then the group may ironically help both parties by broadening the tents.
• "Rap star Akon recorded a pretty cool theme song for the conference. It can be found on the website www.nolabels.org. He was supposed to perform live at the conference but canceled at the last minute for 'personal reasons.'
• "The early speakers have echoed many of the same themes as Jon Stewart from his Rally for Sanity in D.C., but so far I haven't heard Jon Stewart's name mentioned in any speech or among the buttoned-up conference participants."