Democratic pollster Peter Hart has interviewed thousands of voters from every ideological perspective and reports on a powerful, nearly unanimous longing for a unifying candidate—a president who can tame bitter partisanship in Washington and get Republicans and Democrats to cooperate.  

This deep-seated, widely-held desire is actually bad news for the front runners in both major parties: no figure in American politics is more divisive, more polarizing than Hillary Clinton, and the combative Rudy Giuliani will have a tough time unifying the GOP, let alone the nation at large.  

The yearning for consensus-building and a constructive tone may benefit more soothing, less edgy candidates—like Barack Obama on the Democratic side, and Mitt Romney or Mike Huckabee among Republicans. In addition to mobilizing activists on the left or the right, viable contenders should begin thinking about assembling a broad consensus and ultimately bringing the nation together at a time of terrorist and economic threat.