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Can a centrist movement succeed?
Washington Post ^ | 11/29/2010 | Kathleen Parker

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 ...


TOPICS: Constitution/Conservatism; Culture/Society; News/Current Events; Philosophy
KEYWORDS: centrist; kathleenparker; movement
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To: Non-Sequitur

There are only liberals and conservatives. Any one entering political life already has had a good idea what their worldview is. By the time I was 30, I already knew I was a conservative, much to my father’s discomfort.


21 posted on 11/29/2010 7:43:58 AM PST by goldstategop (In Memory Of A Dearly Beloved Friend Who Lives In My Heart Forever)
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To: Lysandru

Like I said, moderates will lead us to totalitarianism. It will just take longer for us to get there with them in charge but that’s the end result.


22 posted on 11/29/2010 7:45:47 AM PST by goldstategop (In Memory Of A Dearly Beloved Friend Who Lives In My Heart Forever)
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To: SeekAndFind

I am a conservative independent that left the GOP after the amnesty vote. Am I a centrist?


23 posted on 11/29/2010 7:46:39 AM PST by Sybeck1 (Is it proper etiquette to tip after a enhanced pat down?)
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To: SeekAndFind

Centrism will not accomplish what is needed, which is to unwind socialism.


24 posted on 11/29/2010 7:47:03 AM PST by AZLiberty (Yes, Mr. Lennon, I do want a revolution.)
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To: SeekAndFind

Centrist movement? Like getting someone like W Bush with a deficit of only a half a trillion dollars?


25 posted on 11/29/2010 7:47:43 AM PST by MNDude (And we were SO close to acheiving utopia)
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To: SeekAndFind
Who's asking? Kathleen Parker??

But Kathleen - you're a liberal. Look in one of your cracked mirrors.

26 posted on 11/29/2010 7:48:14 AM PST by Conservative Tsunami (2012: "Ich bin ein Tea Party-er!")
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To: SeekAndFind

“Centrist” = big government liberals


27 posted on 11/29/2010 7:48:14 AM PST by BenLurkin (This post is not a statement of fact. It is merely a personal opinion -- or humor -- or both)
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To: SeekAndFind

you can tell the writer has never worked even one summer at a 31 Flavors (with a manager always after her to push the vanilla...)


28 posted on 11/29/2010 7:48:30 AM PST by Buckeye McFrog
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To: GonzoGOP

Amen. Between freedom and despotism there is never a middle ground. You would think a dumb beyotch like Parker would have figured it out. I guess she’s content to be the spectator.


29 posted on 11/29/2010 7:49:35 AM PST by goldstategop (In Memory Of A Dearly Beloved Friend Who Lives In My Heart Forever)
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To: samtheman
there is no such thing as a “moderate”

Correct!

The entire concept is nothing but an excuse to keep charismatic, albeit doctrinaire, liberal friends, while preserving the veneer of responsible citizenship.

30 posted on 11/29/2010 7:49:39 AM PST by papertyger
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To: Lysandru
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.

Ummm, Perot was the "conservative" in that race. GW was the Statist, and Klintoon was the Commie.

31 posted on 11/29/2010 7:50:34 AM PST by Conservative Tsunami (2012: "Ich bin ein Tea Party-er!")
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To: samtheman

Of course it is. Obama could never have gotten as far as he has without the cover provided by the Blue Dogs.


32 posted on 11/29/2010 7:51:02 AM PST by goldstategop (In Memory Of A Dearly Beloved Friend Who Lives In My Heart Forever)
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To: SeekAndFind

‘www.nolabels.org’ is more like ‘www.noprinciples.org’.

I don’t see this happening anytime soon with the House of Representatives being liberal/conservative polarized, although if it did it would help Obama get re-elected.


33 posted on 11/29/2010 7:52:06 AM PST by sickoflibs ("It's not the taxes, the redistribution is the federal spending=tax delayed")
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To: SeekAndFind

Kathleen Parker shilling for RINO Inc.


34 posted on 11/29/2010 7:52:06 AM PST by Virginia Ridgerunner (Sarah Palin has crossed the Rubicon!)
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To: papertyger

It’s a way of shoving leftism down the throats of the American public while calling it something else. Not even sugar-coating it. Just CALLING it something else.

Like holding you down, pouring drano down your throat, and telling you it’s ginger ale.


35 posted on 11/29/2010 7:52:19 AM PST by samtheman
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To: Conservative Tsunami
Sorry, Perot was no conservative. Remember-- he specifically rejected the label.

(But I do agree that Bush the Elder was no conservative either.)

36 posted on 11/29/2010 7:53:26 AM PST by Lysandru
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To: AZLiberty

Centrism will never rollback what Obamacare imposed on our country. The moderates are content to accept it and tinker around the edges. No our times call for brave souls willing to take radical measures to save our country.


37 posted on 11/29/2010 7:53:33 AM PST by goldstategop (In Memory Of A Dearly Beloved Friend Who Lives In My Heart Forever)
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To: SeekAndFind

“I’m passionate about apathy, and I vote!”


38 posted on 11/29/2010 7:53:46 AM PST by dead (I've got my eye out for Mullah Omar.)
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To: papertyger

I have yet to meet a moderate who believes we have too much government and too little freedom.


39 posted on 11/29/2010 7:55:13 AM PST by goldstategop (In Memory Of A Dearly Beloved Friend Who Lives In My Heart Forever)
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To: SeekAndFind

Moderate? Really? We need a dictionary to define what is really meant. Most of these so called moderates are anything but. As if destroying our culture & nation is moderate.


40 posted on 11/29/2010 7:56:00 AM PST by Altura Ct.
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