Hundreds  of activists from across the country gathered in New York City on  Monday for the launch of No Labels, a new advocacy organization that  aims to foster civility in our increasingly polarized political  environment and to provide a political voice for the millions of Americans  who consider themselves moderates or centrists.  Ironically, the group  has already succeeded in uniting partisan Democrats and Republicans . . .  in opposition to No Labels!

The  highly-publicized event featured panel discussions and speeches by  prominent politicians and well-known media figures, and was noteworthy  for its inclusion of Democrats, Republicans and Independents alike.  The  event’s two panel discussions – which included the likes of Joe  Scarborough, Evan Bayh, David Gergen, Michael Bloomberg, Charlie Crist  and California's Abel Maldonado – focused on the causes and effects of  hyper-partisanship and the necessity of reforms to the redistricting  process and the primary system.

However, the day’s schedule left plenty  of time for attendees to network and strategize.  They have their work  cut out for them.  The organization has a number of ambitious goals it  aims to achieve over the course of the next year, including expanding  its membership to 1 million individuals, and founding chapters in all  435 of the nation’s congressional districts as well as on college  campuses across the country.

Just  as Independents are marginalized by Democratic-Republican party  politics even though they constitute a significant proportion of the  electorate, our nation’s political discourse is dominated by  conservatives and liberals, though over one-third of Americans consider  themselves moderates.  However, despite persistent speculation that No  Labels will provide the organizational infrastructure for an Independent  presidential candidate in 2012, the organization’s leadership has  consistently stated that it does not aim to build an Independent  alternative to the Democratic and Republican parties, but rather seeks  to galvanize a movement to “change the culture in Washington” by  organizing support for politicians who “put their labels aside and work  across the aisle to solve problems.”  As one of the organization’s  founders, Jon Cowan, explained in his discussion of how to build and  grow the movement, No Labels plans to bolster sitting politicians who  seek common ground across party lines, co-sponsor legislation introduced  by members of another party, and lead by example in maintaining a civil  political discourse.

Ironically,  the group has already succeeded in uniting partisan Democrats and  Republicans in opposition to the effort to build a movement of  moderates.  Many conservative Republicans have begun to echo Rush  Limbaugh, who alleges that No Labels is a “liberal front group.”  On the  other hand, it is not difficult to find Democrats who are of the  opinion that the group will effectively redefine ‘conservatism’ as  ‘centrism,’ as was recently asserted at the prominent liberal Democratic  blog Hullabaloo.

In response to the organization’s launch, one of the most common  criticisms leveled by Republicans and Democrats alike is that No Labels  is “unserious.”  At the influential Republican website Red State, CNN  contributor Erick Erickson summed up his take on the group under the title “An Unserious Circle of Smug Seriousness.”  At Salon, the self-described “typical effete coastal liberal elitist” Alex Pareene submitted a piece on “The Unseriousness of No Labels.”  In the puerile  commentaries of many such Republicans and Democrats, to be “serious” is  to be a slave to the ruling  two-party state, and to show requisite concern for the pet issues of  that party’s most rabid partisans and vocal activists.  Of course, such a  reaction was only to be expected, as this is the “culture” that No  Labels seeks to transform.

In  a telling coincidence, the No Labels organization happened to celebrate  its official launch on the same day a poll was released showing  overwhelming public support for the  bipartisan tax package negotiated by President Obama and Congressional  Republicans.  Needless to say, the plan is vehemently opposed by  “extremists in both parties,” as one observer put it.  Are they serious?