Posted on 11/29/2010 7:28:54 AM PST by SeekAndFind
In a political culture where moderation is the new heresy, centrism is fast becoming the new black.
Political outliers - not quite Republican, not quite Democrat - are forming new alliances in a communal search for "Home." Exhausted by extremism and aching for real change, more and more Americans are moving away from demagoguery and toward pragmatism.
Soon they may have options. A new political group, No Labels ( www.nolabels.org ), is hoping to mobilize and support a centrist political movement. Led by Republican strategist Mark McKinnon and Democratic fundraiser Nancy Jacobson, the organization has raised more than $1 million so far - and the formal launch isn't until next month. Backers include Andrew Tisch, co-chair of Loews Corp.; Ron Shaich, founder of Panera Bread; and Dave Morin, a former Facebook executive.
The group hopes to attract politicians who feel that they've lost elections for being too moderate and voters who feel homeless. There are plenty of each.
SNIP SNIP
When the porridge is either too hot or too cold, the moment for something in between is ripe. More Americans now self-identify as independent rather than Republican or Democrat, even though they may be forced by a lack of alternatives to vote in traditional ways.
But what if there were an alternative? There's little appealing about either party dominated by a base that bears little resemblance to who we are as a nation or the way most of us live our lives.
Yet moderate Democrats and moderate Republicans alike have been banished. Purged, really. Some of them have landed in the No Labels camp.
(Excerpt) Read more at washingtonpost.com ...
Short answer...NO, in fact...HELL NO!
That’s like saying socialism and freedom can be compromised on. Moderates only get us to totalitarianism a little slow but they still get us there.
She doesn’t get it.
Aah, so they are extreme moderates? Or moderate extremists? This movement is for pols and voters who don't believe in anything. Sure to rival the Tea Party - NOT!
I’ll take an honest socialist like Lieberman over these dishonest “centrists” who hide their agenda behind platitudinous nonsense like “bipartisanship” .
Centrism’s greatest weakness is its fatuous ignorance. Centrism is the unexamined life Socrates was talking about. It ignores the fact that we are in a fight to the death over worldview. That inevitably is fought on ideological grounds. That comes down to philosophy.
Centrists are the unexamined lives who are unwilling to do philosophy. They just want to get on with what they consider to be real life — playing games, going to parties, sending their kids to Ivy League schools.
As long as it is consistently to the Right of the GOP it may have a chance. Otherwise, no.
If Americans wanted moderates, Ms. Parker, they would have ejected both liberals and conservatives. They voted overwhelmingly for conservatives. We can’t have a world full of squishes. They don’t know what they stand for and people like extremes for a good reason.
RINOs looking for cover.
Moderates ALWAYS provide cover for leftists and progressives.
ALWAYS.
WITHOUT EXCEPTION.
When the left is on the rampage, leveling society and destroying the economy, there is no such thing as a “moderate”. The very concept is a lie.
Could centrists have created the United States?
No.
Wake up and smell the bacon, kathleen.
Moderates favor compromise but its almost invariably to the Left. The Blue Dogs never slowed down Obama’s revolution. If there’s a lesson Americans have learned Ms. Parker hasn’t, is you can’t rely on moderate Democrats and Republicans to stop the Left.
“In a political culture where moderation is the new heresy, centrism is fast becoming the new black.”
In any compromise between good and evil, it is only evil that can profit.
- AYN RAND
There is no centrism in Capitalism.
It’s a winner take all world.
Probably not. There aren't enough centrists in Congress currently to make a difference. And third party candidates don't do well in elections. The process is stacked against anyone operating outside of the two major parties.
Fine. But for truth-in-advertising purposes, they should change the url to (www.novotes.org).
Any compromise with evil only strengthens it. There is no book of Great Moderates in world history. I invite Ms. Parker to go look it up.
Right. Ever since Ross Perot's 1992 candidacy for the Presidency, I have been amazed that so many people (even ones I respect for their genuine intellect) buy into the idea of a "radical center"-- the idea that pragmatism divorced from ideology could somehow bring about change.
"Centrism" is fine when one wants to maintain a status quo. But if you really need to change course, then it will fail.
I am now ready to slap "Centrists" upside their heads. The "Moderates" will lead us to policies that will bankrupt us in 30 years, while Barack, Harry, and Nancy will bankrupt us in 10 years.
Say what one will about the wedge "cultural issues," the plain fact is that government budgets are on an unsustainable course overall. We need radical budget cuts and pro-growth tax and regulatory policies immediately.
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