NORMAN, Okla. — New York Mayor Michael Bloomberg turned up the volume on a possible independent bid for president on Monday, arguing that partisanship is limiting the nation's progress at a summit of Republicans and Democrats that stole a bit of the spotlight from the candidates in New Hampshire.

Amid talk about Washington riven by partisanship, Bloomberg gathered with some current elected officials, others out of office for years to discuss bridging the divide between the two parties. The summit came on the eve of the first-in-the-nation primary.

"People have stopped working together, government is dysfunctional, there's no collaborating and congeniality," Bloomberg said to applause from the crowd. "America is being held back," he said.

The panel also included Nebraska Republican Sen. Chuck Hagel, who is often mentioned as an ideal running mate for Bloomberg.

"Every one of us in this group this morning believes there are opportunities to turn things around for our country, our future, our children, the world," Hagel said.

A long line of people — students, political junkies and Bloomberg backers — stretched down the street before the event began.

"The opportunity to remove partisan politics from the dialogue is a wonderful idea," said Dennis Ryan, 74, a lawyer from Oklahoma City.

But the national media who traveled to Oklahoma University, and some in the crowd of about 1,000, were there to see Bloomberg more than anyone else. The multibillionaire mayor switched his party affiliation from Republican to independent last summer, increasing the political chatter about a potential third-party bid for the presidency.

Some of the event's organizers themselves have bluntly billed the gathering as a warning to the major party candidates that they are prepared to back an independent candidate — someone like Bloomberg — if they do not see more cooperation among the declared contenders.

Several of the candidates have already made bipartisanship part of their campaign messages.

Democrat Barack Obama, who won the Iowa caucuses, referred to that theme several times during his victory speech, telling his supporters: "You came together as Democrats, Republicans and independents, to stand up and say that we are one nation... you said the time has come to move beyond the bitterness and pettiness and anger that's consumed Washington."

The Republican winner in Iowa, Mike Huckabee, also referred to a desire for bipartisan unity.