Martin Kaplan, director of USC Annenberg's Normal Lear Center, moderated a panel discussion for the ALOUD series at the Library Foundation of Los Angeles.

The panel, featuring Connie Rice, Rick Hasen and Leslie Berestein Rojas, discussed the growth of political partisanship in the United States as the Presidential Election nears and whether or not something should be done to reduce the polarization.

“At the end of the day, when you decided to get something done for the country, you automatically put aside the bickering and the party lines and you gun together,” said Rice when asked about bipartisanship.

Hasen said that the overlap that used to exist between political parties no longer does and compromise between them is becoming nearly impossible.

“You look at someone like Obama coming in and saying he’s going to move beyond partisanship. This is how he sold himself in the first election,” said Hasen. “He’s not selling himself that way anymore. He’s given up on that possibility.”

Kaplan is the Norman Lear Professor of Entertainment, Media and Society at USC Annenberg. He has served as a speechwriter for Vice President Walter F. Mondale and his research at the Norman Lear Center includes political coverage.