Thursday, June 9, 2016

IN DEFENSE OF MODERATION



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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