NYC Mayor Bloomberg talks bipartisan politics with older generation of lawmakers

(AP) - New York City Mayor Michael Bloomberg is to meet with a bipartisan panel of current and former lawmakers and elected officials from around the country today in Oklahoma to discuss what irks them about the state of American politics.

One of the organizers of the event is former Democratic Senator David Boren. He says the meeting is a message to Republicans and Democrats that an independent presidential candidacy is possible if they don't "rise to the occasion."

That candidacy could be Bloomberg's. The mayor has repeatedly said he won't run, but his aides are exploring the possibility.

Several members of the forum claim the meeting is not a launch of a Bloomberg campaign.

While it's unclear what the panel wants to see from the 2008 presidential candidates, several front-runners have already called for more bipartisanship in Washington.