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We're The Centrists Now

By Big Tent Democrat

I have always called my self a "Centrist." What does that mean actually? Well nothing really. But it is valuable politically.

We Democrats are "the Centrists" now I am happy to say. Chris Bowers is not:

Pew recently releases a much-discussed survey arguing that, despite massive partisan gains for Democrats, the ideological balance of the country has not shifted much. . . . This finding needs to be disputed . . .

I disagree. This finding needs to be embraced. I think we should argue that the country chose "Centrism" when it chose the Democratic agenda. More . . .

Chris writes:

1. Self-identification does not mesh with policy preference Ideological self-identification does not accurately place Americans into categories representing coherent worldviews. This is a point that the Pew survey itself makes, though it has received less attention than the topline numbers:

Still, ideological labels do not always predict opinions about key policy issues. For example, about half of Americans who describe their political views as conservative say that all (24%) or some (27%) of the tax cuts passed under George W. Bush should be repealed. More than four-in-ten conservatives (43%) say that abortion should be legal in some or all cases. On the other hand, nearly half of self-described liberals (49%) favor more offshore drilling for oil and gas in U.S. waters.

Just because someone describes him or herself as a liberal, moderate or a conservative, does not mean that person actually is a liberal, a moderate or a conservative.

Chris misses the point I think. "Moderate" now means Democrat on the issues and at the voting booth. This is a good thing. I will drag out my old saw from my first Talk Left post in 2006:

And that is FDR's lesson for Obama. Politics is not a battle for the middle. It is a battle for defining the terms of the political debate. It is a battle to be able to say what is the middle.

The Democratic agenda is the middle. We won.

Speaking for me only

Full post as published by TalkLeft on December 03, 2008 (boomark / email).