Rep. Janice Hahn in 2011. (Getty Images)
Today's gathering of the bipartisan political organization No Labels featured Rep. Janice Hahn, the Torrance Democrat who is beginning her first full term in Congress.Hahn was the only Californian among the 15 elected officials -- or in the case of No Labels co-leader Jon Huntsman, former elected official -- taking part in the event in New York.
More California politicians should make a point of getting involved, whether it's through No Labels or another way, in a push for more cooperation between Democrats and Republicans. This is one state, after all, where voters have expressed at least a theoretical preference for moderate thinking. The new, voter-created open primaries are designed to reduce the influence of party extremists.
It's a question for another day whether Hahn, who defeated fellow Democratic Rep. Laura Richardson in November after redistricting landed both in the 44th Congressional District, is living up to that bipartisan ideal.
But Hahn was talking a good game today at the No Labels event where she was identified as one of 12 "Congressional Problem Solvers."
"There's a huge mistrust back there (in Washington)," Hahn said in comments quoted by the Associated Press. "There's a feeling that we all don't want to
do something that is constructive. The only way we're forced to act is with these manmade crises" such as the fiscal cliff and the upcoming debt-ceiling battle."That's no way to govern the country."
Hahn said she will "bring a friend" to the next No Labels meeting on Capitol Hill.
Let's hope Hahn's friend is a fellow California representative, and that an expanding number of politicians speaking up for bipartisan cooperation will be able to put this lofty principle into practice.
-- Opinion staff
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