How Moderates Might Hold America Together During These Turbulent Times

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Having been a Republican all my life, I never would have thought there’d ever be such a thing as a Democratic politician who shares my center-to-right-leaning values and supports a moderate to perhaps even right-leaning agenda, at least as defined by traditional standards. Had you asked me “Who would meet that definition?” just a few years ago, I probably would have answered “Nobody” and would have likely relegated the term “Conservative Democrat” to being a misnomer. I’ll admit, as a moderate Republican, that I might have aligned more with the party more than its key underlying values, partly because I was too busy with work and other things at the time to pay much attention to politics, but mainly because I was quite content with where the Republican party was at the time, especially during the Ronald Reagan/George HW Bush years.

However, over time, I started to become just as frustrated with the far right as I have always been with the far left. For instance, I believe the notion of allowing nearly anyone to buy an assault weapon (handguns/riffles for self-defense and hunting are OK) and having states secede from the union to be just as horrific as redistributing wealth and unequivocally allowing abortion. Until recently, I don’t recall a major Republican initiative that I opposed to this same extent. However, lately, and especially after its response to the pandemic in mid/late 2020, I have become equally frustrated with the Republican party. Forbidding businesses and schools from implementing vaccine and mask mandates to protect their employees/customers/students from COVID-19 is totally unconscionable to me. I’ll admit, had you asked me before the pandemic, which party would promote prudent, data-driven decisions versus which would say “my body, my choice”, I would have been willing to bet a month’s pay that it would have been the Republicans to have followed science, medicine, and common sense. Thankfully, I never made such a bet because I would have lost $$.

I have always been fully aware that some Republicans are biased right more than others and likewise with some Democrats being biased left more toward the left. However, it appears to me that such biases within both parties have become downright stark. I noticed the biggest change on the Republican side in that the far right DeSantis /Trump supporters have been recently marginalizing the moderates within their own party, such as Maryland Governor Larry Hogan). On the same note, I see similar infighting within the Democratic party. For instance, take the USA Today article “Biden promises ‘strong executive action’ on climate change after Sen. Manchin dooms domestic agenda”. President Biden (far left) and West Virginia Senator Joe Manchin (moderate Democrat) were at odds on our country’s go-forward energy policy. (BTW, I very much resonate with Mr. Manchin’s stand on this particular issue.) I also believe that Mr. Manchin’s stand on the issue aligns well with the “traditional” Republican viewpoint in that we need a solid energy policy and that we need to have affordable clean/renewable energy/related infrastructure in place before we start to pull the plug on fossil fuels.

I have also noticed there seems to be little difference between the viewpoints/values of moderate Democrats and moderate Republicans. Both advocate that the top 2 priorities of the US Federal Government are 1) maintain a strong national defense that preserves our sovereignty and freedom; and 2) maintain a sound fiscal policy that supports our free-enterprise market while ensuring a level playing field. Moderates on both sides also tend to put these issues ahead of social issues, especially those involving our private lives.

Today’s Trends

In short, it seems that the “partly line” on both sides seems to be gravitating more and more to that party’s extreme, thereby leaving what appears to be somewhat of a vacuum in the middle – at least per the headlines. However, I tend to believe this does not necessarily represent what is physically happening, as I believe there is much more going on in the middle than what we hear about. It also appears that, recently, moderate Republicans are fading. Some, like Mitch McConnell seem to be drifting to the far right whereas others have exited the party to become Independents because they don’t like the current – seemingly cultist – trends, such as antivax conspiracy theorists and those advocating secession from the USA. For instance, Denver Riggleman just announced his exit from the Republican party last month. He is now an Independent. On the other hand, most Moderate Democrats seem to be holding their own quite well, and others are flourishing. For instance, Joe Manchin has held his US Senate position since 2010 and continues to be very influential, as evidenced by the aforementioned USA Today article. Also, Senator Gary Peters of Michigan was elected to the US House of Representatives in 2008 and to the US Senate in 2015. He is well-known for his pragmatic and bi-partisan approach to many of our country’s current challenges.

What Does This Mean and What Will Be the End State?

It’s probably anyone’s guess, at least for this decade. My best speculation is that, unfortunately, the polarization between the far left and the far right politicians will continue and that more people (non-politicians) might get caught up in it. However, I can also see a growing awareness and perhaps a growing population of moderates as described above. I believe this “wing” of the Democratic party is now most closely aligned with the “silent majority” – a term applied to moderate Republicans for many years. Meanwhile, the Republican party seems to have lost its grounding rod as it continues to drift further to the extreme right while marginalizing those who oppose this trend. On the contrary, the Democratic moderate movement appears to remain rock-solid – maybe struggling in maintaining/growing its participation, but steadfast nevertheless. Thus, I can foresee a number of Republican voters switching to the Democratic party – not because their views have changed but because the political landscape around them has changed.

I tend to put myself in this category, as I don’t feel a strong attachment to either party right now. Again, it’s not all because my views have changed, but because the Republican party has distanced itself from the “One America” (AKA “united we stand, divided we fall”) value that I hold so close. For instance, the DeSantis Republicans really lost me on their views toward COVID mitigation, as discussed previously. I continue to believe that medicine and science have proven – with an abundance of data – that vaccines and masks offer very good (but not guaranteed) protection against becoming severely ill and dying of COVID. Yet, multiple Republican governors have forbidden vaccine and mask mandates within in their states. I find it even more troubling that some state governors seem to be advocating secession from the USA. (This was already attempted over 150 years ago, and it didn’t end well for those who tried.) And to be fair, I have basically the same criticism for the far left and the news media. For instance, why was Seattle’s burning of buildings, destruction of property, and injuring of people called a “demonstration”, yet the January 6, 2021 event was called a “riot”. In my book, both events were equally wrong, and both fully met the definition of “riot”.

OK, enough on the negative, as I do see hope and a lot of upside potential. Given that moderate Republicans and moderate Democrats join forces, I believe their unified efforts would help reduce the division and hate that our country is currently experiencing and promote unity/cohesion via their bi-partisan approach to our current challenges and issues. I also see more likelihood of that movement landing within the Democratic party, only because I believe they would likely be rejected by the current Republican party. If it does indeed play out this way, I believe a significant number of voters would align with the people behind this movement, even if it means switching parties.

My Final Thoughts and Recommendations

Although I have my own views (and have shared some of them above), I could never tell anyone in good conscience what they should think or how they should vote. However, I will offer a few things to consider as you navigate through this ever-changing political landscape as we approach the November midterm elections. I also believe these points to be independent of political party affiliation.

Be aware of your environment and stay focused on the issues that matter most to you and on how you believe they should be addressed. It’s all about your core values. This should translate into being mindful of how politician’s (on both sides) and the news media are trying to shape our views. I believe this is paramount. (For me, it is not very daunting/confusing because I’m a Catholic, and I always strive to have the Holy Spirit, scriptures and teachings of the Church guide my thoughts, decisions, and actions in all situations. This greatly helps me to avoid getting caught up in/distracted by the political swirl here on earth.)
#1 also applies when assessing candidates. I recall the words of my dear grandfather: “I vote for the person, not the party”. I believe this simple anecdote is even more relevant today as both parties are changing – a lot. Thus, I believe one could easily be misled by a particular candidate’s partisan “label”.
Don’t underestimate the tremendously negative power of division/hate and the tremendously positive power of unity/good will when selecting candidates to vote for, as I believe this unity/good will is what made America great. In my 20+ years as a middle manager in a large company, I have seen this make or break organizations and large programs/projects on multiple occasions.
Things are seldom as bad or as good as they might seem at first. We need to unpeel the onion (drill down/get to the facts) before we draw conclusions. Also, if something about a candidate’s stance on something feels out-of-sorts, that should be a tip-off to take a closer look.