"Centrist" Democrats:
With President Bush and the Republican Party on the rocks, many Democrats think the 2008 election will be, to borrow a favorite GOP phrase, a cakewalk. Some liberals are so confident about Democratic prospects that they contend the centrism that vaulted Democrats to victory in the 1990s no longer matters.
The temptation to ignore the vital center is nothing new. Every four years, in the heat of the nominating process, liberals and conservatives alike dream of a world in which swing voters don't exist. Some on the left would love to pretend that groups such as the Democratic Leadership Council, the party's leading centrist voice, aren't needed anymore.
But for Democrats, taking the center for granted next year would be a greater mistake than ever before. George W. Bush is handing us Democrats our Hoover moment. Independents, swing voters and even some Republicans who haven't voted our way in more than a decade are willing to hear us out. With an ambitious common-sense agenda, the progressive center has a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity to win back the White House, expand its margins in Congress and build a political and governing majority that could last a generation.
These people should be driven out of any positions of power and no one should listen to anything they have to say. The idea of appealing to the "center" is inherently flawed. The "center" is so named because it is presumed that it lies in between progressive and conservative positions. This is incorrect for the following reasons:
- All evidence indicates that the country has become increasingly divided. There is no broad, silent, centrist majority to appeal to. However, since most people like to view themselves in the "center" and not too radical on any issue, using the term reflects an attempt to normalize, aggrandize and over-inflate whatever position one is staking out.
- The "center" stands for nothing. It stands for a complete and utter vacuum of values, ideas and policies. Instead, the word is used as a stand-in for "things that appeal to a majority of people." This represents a total failure of branding on the part of "centrist" Democrats.
People who vote Democratic do not do so because it is in the "center", but because they are Democrats and identify with progressive values and policies. People who prefer to brand Democrats as "centrists" - which, as discussed above, means nothing and furthermore gives conservatives a foothold in the tug of war - as opposed to Democrats or progressives are morons. Democrats should be pushing progressive ideals, narratives and policies instead of retreating to some fictional center. We win people over by standing for attractive, morally upright and responsibly pragmatic values.
To point, even though Hoover was completely out of touch with the country, FDR did not win because he tacked to some mushy center in between progressives and conservatives, he won because he advocated for progressive things that were wildly popular with people. Social security, the NLRB and consumer and worker protections are all proudly progressive positions and represent America at its best. 70 years later, leaving Iraq, universal healthcare, balancing our budget are all progressive - and markedly unconservative - things that a majority of this country wants. To win, and continue winning, Democrats need to embrace and identify with these popular progressive positions and values.
Progressivism is a healthy and much more viable alternative for this country than conservatism is, and our leaders and spokespeople should be making strong pitches for it, not shying away from it.
LithiumCola, who alerted me to this article, over at dkos has more to add.
