With Barack Obama and John McCain continuing to roll out bipartisan rhetoric, this election may soon see the return of the political center, the Wall Street Journal reports. More voters are also registering as independents, and Internet donations from ordinary citizens make pols less beholden to special interests on the right or left.
Simple interaction may do the trick, too. If lawmakers raise cash online, they don’t have to return to their home districts as much. Instead, they can spend more time together in D.C. Says one rep: "When you get to know somebody as a neighbor, or your kids play together on the soccer team, it's harder for you to go on the floor and call them names." (More bipartisanship stories.)