An article in today's Politico.com (link at bottom) discusses what it describes as the quiet and slow, but steady, rise of "centrist" republicans on the national political scene. The author is Lou Zickar, editor of The Ripon Forum, a "centrist journal published by The Ripon Society." Zickar says that the "comeback" of centrist republicans has taken a hit with tea party successes and Charlie Crist's decision to turn Independent, but Zickar also points to several prominent examples of republican politicians that he views to be centrist, such as Scott Brown and current Senate candidates Linda McMahon, Jane Norton and Meg Whitman.Although I disagree with a basic premise of this article, as explained below, Zickar does make some good points touching upon how the two political extremes incessantly try to marginalize more-centrist candidates and politicians, and how the growing number of American Independents are the ones who ultimately decide elections:
"For centrist Republicans, it is the best of times and the worst of times. It’s the best of times because, across the country, the number of independents is growing. Polls reveal that at least 40 percent of Americans now say they are at the political center. But it’s the worst because, in Washington certainly, it seems like the political center is being marginalized by the extremes."
"In Washington, Crist’s decision is widely viewed as a loss for centrist Republicans. But it is also viewed as a win for the tea party movement — which propelled Rand Paul to victory in Kentucky last week and is forcing candidates from Arizona to New Hampshire to run to the far right. This rise of the tea party seems to further marginalize centrist Republicans. But to the extent that the tea party is pushing Republican candidates across the country to the right, it is also pushing many Washington Republicans to realize something they’ve overlooked in recent years: The GOP has to remain connected to the political center if it is to build an electoral majority."
"Government is broken. The federal bureaucracy is dysfunctional. And people are angry as a result . . .Centrist Republicans understand this. This is one reason why — despite today’s focus on the extremes — centrists are making a comeback. The comeback is quiet and slow — but steady."
I agree with a lot of those points, but I disagree with Zickar's view that partisan politicians turning Independent is a bad thing. I think it's a great thing. It frees them from the shackles of the two extremes that control our two political parties. A republican or democrat may truly be a "centrist" at heart, but yet will always veer towards the extreme of his/her party (whether it be while in office or when seeking re-election) when enough pressure is exerted by the progressives or by the tea partiers or other conservative powerbrokers. Frankly, I trust a "centrist" republican or democrat to represent the Independent mainstream of the country about as much as I would trust a heart surgeon with the yips.
The answer to our broken political system does not lie in efforts to bring the two parties towards the center, because that is simply not going to happen. Complete waste of time. These parties are what they are, and the only way in which they've ever changed in my lifetime is to become even more extreme-controlled as time has passed. Nope, the ultimate answer lies outside these two parties, with viable Independent and third-party candidacies. We need more partisan politicians to make the very same decision that Charlie Crist made, just like we need more good reality shows like "What Chilli Wants."
http://www.politico.com/news/stories/0510/37886.html
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