Moving Uphill to the Middle

What is wrong with being part of the political mainstream? It's the people who make up the middle who will decide the next president of the United States. When you look at our history you realize that moderate middle of the road politicians have been the most successful. We just don't realize they are one of us until many years later. We certainly do not follow the party lines.

George W. Bush has not conformed with many conservative ideals that are the current base of the Republican Party despite claiming to be a conservative. Likewise Bill Clinton did not support all of the ideas that are supported by the more liberal side of the Democratic Party. Historically it was Richard Nixon who secretly negotiated with Communist China and he implemented a 90 day wage and price freeze in 1971. David Broder observed our return to the center in the Washington Post in 2005.

It is now obvious that Barack Obama has recognized that he must move towards the center. He is doing it now before the heat of the campaign in September and October. He anticipates that his liberal supporters will adjust to his new stances before the going gets rough. His revised views on campaign donations, FISA, gun control, abortion, and a refined Iraq withdrawal plan are all part of his strategy to capture the independents and centrists. They will support him because there is no option.

John McCain is trying to move to the center too but he is having a much more difficult time making that transition. He is tied to the Bush administration and he actively supports conservative views that are not part of his past. In his 2000 campaign against Bush he was the maverick that many independents liked. His "straight talk express" was hallmark of that campaign. He was not a strong supporter of the "right to life" crowd. He supported legalization of illegal aliens. He avoided and sometimes denounced right wing groups in that campaign on topics ranging from the Confederate flag to making appearances at Bob Jones University. Unless he returns to his roots of 2000 his chances of winning election are slim.

Comments

[jvarga]

What I would give for one of you political types to actually realize that Senator Obama talked about protecting the second amendment during his town hall speeches during the primaries.

[bgregs]

Your theory would work just fine were it not for the fact that Obama WAS centrist during the primaries! He only APPEARED to be leftist in comparison to the WASHINGTON political reality, in which the center has been moved so far right that we would now consider FORD to be a raging liberal!!