Shadow Wraith

So, are there any prominent people, political groups, or parties that could be considered moderate or centrist in nature? I constantly hear of people/groups being lumped into the usual "left, right, libertarian" generalizations, but I've yet to hear of any being labelled as moderates or centrists.

(As a side question, could libertarianism potentially be considered moderate/centrist? I usually hear no, but sometimes I hear otherwise.)

Arken

A lot of people claim John McCain is a centrist. I don't know if I quite buy it though.

McCain is more like a Republican before Republicans decided that they were going to get in bed with the Christian Coalition.

CJD

If by "centrist" we mean fiscally discreet and socially just, then I think the answer is that libertarians (not the ones who are disgruntled conservatives!) are in the best position to be "centrist."

CJD

KnightWhoSaysNi

From a Canadian perspective, we tend to see the US Democratic Party as pretty centrist, while many Americans consider them 'lefties'. The perceived "middle" of the political spectrum in the USA is shifted quite a bit to the right as opposed to where Canadians see it.

Jason

theyeti

The Democratic Party, USA.

It depends on what you mean by "libertarianism". If you mean leaning somewhat to the left on social issues, and somewhat to the right on economic issues, then this could be considered centrist. But most libertarians, and the Libertarian Party in particular, are hardcore ideologues -- extreme right on economics, and extreme left on social issues. Not at all moderate.

theyeti

ohwilleke

In the U.S. Senate which is almost evenly split between Republicans and Democrats, the four Republicans or former Republicans I would consider among the most moderate are Olympia Snowe, Jeffords (independent, formerly Republican), Ben Nighthorse Campbell (formerly a Democrat), and John McCain.

Four of the most moderate Democrats in the U.S. Senate would be Presidential candidate Graham (from Florida), Landrieu and Breaux from Louisianna, and Baucus from Montana.

The American Conservative Union rates Snowe 52 (with 100 being most conservative and 0 most liberal) and Breaux 46. While I don't agree with the ACU on most things, their rankings from liberal to conservative are fairly accurate in relative terms.

Moderate is, by definition a relative term, and in the U.S. political context, which nationally is quite evenly split between Republicans and Democrats (as evidenced by a very close Presidential election in 2000 and a nearly evenly split House and Senate), individuals who are both more liberal than most Republicans and more conservative than most Democrats are moderates.

The Democratic Leadership Council (DLC) is commonly viewed as the "moderate wing" of the Democratic party. The "blue dogs" is a name that less ideological moderates in the Senate attach to themselves.

England's Tories, or the Progressive Conservative party in Canada (before it was virtually wiped out) would be considered moderate in the U.S. political spectrum, despite being right wing parties in their own countries, because neither party has the intensive Christian right ideology that the U.S. Republican party does.

Krieger

It really depends on what you mean by "centrist" or "moderate".

If you mean ideologically centrist, then that would be a social democrat (they want a system with a weak capitalist class that has very little political power - basically, a "mixture" of capitalism and socialism). Social democrats also tend to favor reformism over revolution. Examples would be the Green Party and the New Party.

However, if you mean a "moderate" amongst the capitalist politicians in Washington who represent the ruling-class of the United States. Well, you won't find very much difference between the two "parties" on economic matters (foreign and domestic). Although, some of the capitalist politicians are openly racist (e.g. Senator Trent Lott), others are openly homophobic (e.g. Senator Rick Santorum), and almost all of them have openly shown their hatred and disgust for atheists (recall the Michael Newdow period one year ago).

ohwilleke

In an "absolute sense", I would define a moderate as somone who: looks at things on a case by case basis, is willing to consider multiple points of view to look for valid and invalid points that have been made, favors incremental changes from the status quo, and reflects views that are widely held.

Bill

From personal experience, I can state that there were many moderates (or "centerists") in the former Reform Party, before Pat Buchanan rode in and rode us all out on a rail. Jesse Ventura was the most prominant Reform Party politician, and he was fairly moderate, all things considered. I think that the Libertarian Party views itself as consisting of libertarian-minded people from all parts of the left-right political spectrum. They even invented a two-dimensional short poll for you to take to figure out how libertarian your veiws were, as compared to where you were on the typical left-right spectrum.

Thus, there most certainly are a substantial number of moderate/centerist people who are in the Libertarian Party.

== Bill

Bill

That part of your definition is an almost classic description of Liberalism! For an example of how this works, please read Lib Liberation from the June 23, 2003 issue of New York magazine, which contains this quote: I need to get to work on an article I've been thinking of writing. The working title is In Defense of Liberalism: Why the Move to the Right is Wrong!

== Bill