In this election year the label of
“moderate” has been the kiss of death. If
a candidate was not willing to profess allegiance to left leaning progressive
ideals as a democrat or to populist ones as a republican, there was little
chance to gain the attention of voters.
Indeed, running for office and calling for incremental policy changes
and keeping the ship of state on a steady course has been the most discredited of
all positions. Hillary Clinton tried
this moderate approach early in the primaries but has moved significantly to
the left in recent months as her support eroded.
What caused political moderation to
lose its purchase, to be replaced by calls for revolution on the left and for
anti establishment and controversial proposals on the right?
First, this trend toward the
extreme is not limited to the American electorate. As a direct result of immigration and state
security issues, Europe’s far right is no longer on the fringe of the political
process. In Austria the Austrian Freedom Party, founded by ex-Nazis, came
within .6% of winning the recent national election. In France, the far right candidate Marine La
Pen is predicted to come in first in the initial round of next year’s
presidential election. Right wing pluralities in the Netherlands, Denmark, and
Switzerland are firmly in place. Sweden is not far behind. Also in Europe the far left parties have
gained in stature and undermined the moderate social democrats who have
traditionally governed these countries
Second, angry calls for wall
building, banning Muslims and identifying and deporting illegal immigrants seem
like reasonable proposals to older Americans who fear for their personal and
job security. On the other end of the political spectrum young Americans have
bought into the theme of a social revolution that will provide free education,
free medical care and a revived Social Security system for their retirement.
Lastly, the status quo of the last
eight years is viewed by many voters as a time of stagnation rather than a
period of growth. The art of governing
has ground to a halt. Witness the recent
energy bill (the first in nearly a decade) that easily passed the Senate but is
now bogged down in the House over petty partisan politics.
Voters are embracing the political
extremes in the hope that anything is better than a do nothing, crisis driven
legislative process. It apparently never
occurs to those seeking change that other extreme lawmakers have caused the
impasse in the first place and that their candidates will actually make matters
worse if elected to higher office.
So how can political moderates
recapture the political playing field? Congress
is already well represented with moderates in both political parties. Unfortunately, in this election year they
operate under the radar and are afraid of an angry electorate who view them as
the failed establishment and could vote them out of office. They are patiently waiting for rationality to
return after the extremists flame out.
This is not the right approach.
Moderates must realize that
remaining silent about their ideals will not defeat extremism. The mantra
should not be: “this too will pass” but rather “fight for moderation in
government.” Voters are eager to support
politicians with clear values and sound ideas.
Moderates have both without the baggage of do or die ideologies. Moreover, only moderates on both sides of the
aisle and in the White House can reach the degree of cooperation necessary to
pass long overdue legislation.
Populists and left wing
progressives seek to blow up our established two party system. This is not the path to sensible governing. Moderates must speak up to preserve and
nurture our traditional political process.
If the moderate position is firmly
and clearly presented to the voting public two facts will become obvious. First, that the emotional positions espoused
by the extremists are nothing but pipe dreams and will never be adopted once
the elections are over. On close
analysis it will also become clear that the only certain result from electing
extreme public officials will be divisiveness and partisan politics that will
make the past eight years appear as tame as a church social.
The second fact is that the
strength of moderation lies not in the sound bites of campaigning but in the
give and take of governing. Centralist positions open to compromise and not
unbending fringe ideology make for a healthy legislative process.
Moderates from both parties, those slightly
left and right of center, tend to be socially liberal and fiscally
conservative. Given the issues that must
be addressed, there is no better political formula for moving our country
forward.
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