I think it is a solution that lacks a disciplined powerful, charismatic and visionary leader that appeals to those people.
It's probably the only missing piece of the puzzle, but its also a giant gaping hole dead center.
This new middle 60% party would also need to withstand manipulation by the GOP and Democrats and their machines, cash. The candidate would have to be very adept at countering, and putting out their own messaging; raising funds.
Last, the party can't afford to make a bad choice early on. I think it was Hunter S. Thompson who noted that it is not only the cream rises to the top... the turd also rises.
Very well, said, Patrick. I do think that there is a middle 60% that is tucking fired of some of the extreme positions. There are positions on abortion other than "Never-ever" and "free secret third-trimester abortions for 13 year-old 'people'"
As for what the decade-younger Patterico would have thought, well, ideology seems less important as time goes by. Perhaps the most important thing in opposing Statism is getting the State to be less invested in "sides."
I found a lot to agree with Jonah Goldberg's concern about conservatism, and I think between him and the dissenting views from Dan McLaughlin and Charles Cooke, that Jonah has the slightly better argument. That said, I found myself nodding my head in agreement with the good faith concerns that Dan and Charles had with elections being thrown to a Democratic Party that in its own way, is illiberal in many respects. While I remained NeverTrump in 2020, I watched the progressive left go insanely woke and irrational during the protests/riots of that summer and generally speaking, the past 4-5 years. And I understood why there were reasonable and decent voters who reluctantly pulled the lever for Trump.
As someone who considers myself a strongly right of center classical liberal, I'm about as far removed from being a moderate when it comes to political philosophy. But I like to think that I'm a moderate when it comes to disposition and temperament, rejecting the left's hyperwoke extremism and the right's "own the libs"/"f__k your feelings" performative behavior as well as their desire to try to steal elections that don't go their way. And I think a solid majority of left of center voters are also temperamentally moderate and reasonable. As for the GOP having gone extreme, they've certainly not done so by going extreme on limited government conservative principles(aka classical liberalism). Their extremism seems to be centered around their embrace of big government populist statism, at the expense of principles associated with limited government conservatism.
It would be really bad for this country if the sphere of political debate became dominated by Bernie Sanders and Josh Mandel types. If things continue on that course, we will have both parties filled with people advocating for retaliatory statism(where one uses the coercive power of the government to go after those they don't like or agree with). That would not be a sustainable path for our country. I think that with both parties having increasingly ugly strains of illiberalism within, reversing its course will require a sustained effort from reasonable conservatives, modern liberals, and ideological moderates who find themselves disillusioned. At this point, I'm open to trying something new and see if it works. A moderate third party is something worth trying. The ideological compromises necessary(so long as bedrock Constitutional principles aren't violated) would be worth the tradeoff if it forced the retrenchment of the illiberal extremism in both the D and R parties. Reaganite conservatives can later go find a party solidly embracing classical liberalism(whether it is a chastised, revitalized GOP, or a new conservative party) once that issue is dealt with.
Like steveg, I doubt it would work because there is no place for a charismatic leader in a moderate party. More's the pity.
I think it is a solution that lacks a disciplined powerful, charismatic and visionary leader that appeals to those people.
It's probably the only missing piece of the puzzle, but its also a giant gaping hole dead center.
This new middle 60% party would also need to withstand manipulation by the GOP and Democrats and their machines, cash. The candidate would have to be very adept at countering, and putting out their own messaging; raising funds.
Last, the party can't afford to make a bad choice early on. I think it was Hunter S. Thompson who noted that it is not only the cream rises to the top... the turd also rises.
Very well, said, Patrick. I do think that there is a middle 60% that is tucking fired of some of the extreme positions. There are positions on abortion other than "Never-ever" and "free secret third-trimester abortions for 13 year-old 'people'"
As for what the decade-younger Patterico would have thought, well, ideology seems less important as time goes by. Perhaps the most important thing in opposing Statism is getting the State to be less invested in "sides."
I found a lot to agree with Jonah Goldberg's concern about conservatism, and I think between him and the dissenting views from Dan McLaughlin and Charles Cooke, that Jonah has the slightly better argument. That said, I found myself nodding my head in agreement with the good faith concerns that Dan and Charles had with elections being thrown to a Democratic Party that in its own way, is illiberal in many respects. While I remained NeverTrump in 2020, I watched the progressive left go insanely woke and irrational during the protests/riots of that summer and generally speaking, the past 4-5 years. And I understood why there were reasonable and decent voters who reluctantly pulled the lever for Trump.
As someone who considers myself a strongly right of center classical liberal, I'm about as far removed from being a moderate when it comes to political philosophy. But I like to think that I'm a moderate when it comes to disposition and temperament, rejecting the left's hyperwoke extremism and the right's "own the libs"/"f__k your feelings" performative behavior as well as their desire to try to steal elections that don't go their way. And I think a solid majority of left of center voters are also temperamentally moderate and reasonable. As for the GOP having gone extreme, they've certainly not done so by going extreme on limited government conservative principles(aka classical liberalism). Their extremism seems to be centered around their embrace of big government populist statism, at the expense of principles associated with limited government conservatism.
It would be really bad for this country if the sphere of political debate became dominated by Bernie Sanders and Josh Mandel types. If things continue on that course, we will have both parties filled with people advocating for retaliatory statism(where one uses the coercive power of the government to go after those they don't like or agree with). That would not be a sustainable path for our country. I think that with both parties having increasingly ugly strains of illiberalism within, reversing its course will require a sustained effort from reasonable conservatives, modern liberals, and ideological moderates who find themselves disillusioned. At this point, I'm open to trying something new and see if it works. A moderate third party is something worth trying. The ideological compromises necessary(so long as bedrock Constitutional principles aren't violated) would be worth the tradeoff if it forced the retrenchment of the illiberal extremism in both the D and R parties. Reaganite conservatives can later go find a party solidly embracing classical liberalism(whether it is a chastised, revitalized GOP, or a new conservative party) once that issue is dealt with.
There is a similar yearning from many on the left, that I know personally.