CONCORD, N.H. —
An actor known for his role in a 1990s hit television series helped launch a new effort Tuesday to get people reengaged in politics.
Andrew Shue is best known for his role in the show “Melrose Place,” but he’s now in New Hampshire on a mission to take some of the drama out of politics and try to revive bipartisan problem-solving.
“This is going to build. It will build in scale. It will build in credibility,” Shue said.
The goal of the New Hampshire Forum is to get 25,000 Granite Staters more involved in solving political problems.
The newly launched New Hampshire Forum arises from the Citizen Assembly movement. The goal is to engage 25,000 Granite Staters, get them to submit their top issues on a website and then convene a bipartisan citizen working group later this year to try to come up with solutions.
“Compromise has unfortunately – it’s an art form that’s lost its way, and it needs to come back,” said former New Hampshire Senate President Donna Soucy.
Forum leaders said the intent is to create what they call new civic infrastructure, get new people involved and connected with current lawmakers. Then, the group will bring forward legislation next year.
“The extreme voices on both sides, they may be the loudest, but they’re not the majority,” said former Londonderry town manager Kevin Smith. “We know they’re not the majority. Those of us standing up here today, we are the majority.”
