On Moderation and Centrism

According to some estimates, Sunday's Rally to Restore Sanity and or Fear drew over 200,000 participants. After looking at some of the coverage surrounding the event and discussing it with some friends a few questions came up.

Can centrism or a moderate political agenda motivate people to the same extent extremism can?

And does it take extreme polarization on both sides for moderates to become motivated?

Pundits, commentators, and political scientist often talk about the pendulum of politics shifting from the left to the right and vice versa. If we take recent history as an example, we could see Obama's election as a reaction to and a swing to the left following the Bush years. Following the same logic, it would be possible to argue that the Tea parties are a reaction by the right of Obama's election and legislative initiatives.

What role did centrists play in these pendulum swings? The recent experience seems to indicate the pendulum is swinging farther and farther from the centre. While many centrists are the ones who will switch their votes from election to election that provide changes in governments, these recent shifts are not the work of centrists but rather of the extremes on both sides getting involved and recruiting a larger number of members. Obama would not have gotten elected without the millions of disenfranchised Americans getting involved and the Democrat's left flank and the Tea Party did not win so many primary races on the support of centrist Republicans.

Is Stewart and Colbert's rally an example of centrists saying enough is enough? And will they show up for today's vote?

The fact that Stewart's and Colbert's rally took place only two days before the election is of great importance. I believe the date was not a coincidence and that Stewart chose it with the hope of motivating as many moderates, both from the right and the left, to go out and vote. The best indicator of whether or not this was achieved will be today's election results.

I truly believe that Stewart had some important messages yesterday and his speech is definitely worth a watch. Here is a link to Stewart's speech: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jXmbzLI3pnk. The speech contains many sound bites and is typical Stewart but it is food for thought.

I do agree that there is a role for extremist or those that are farther from the centre in the public discourse. I believe it is important to challenge and question accepted notions but it is dangerous when these minority voices act and are as accepted as the majority. It is especially detrimental to the public discourse and unacceptable when these extremes vilify, degrade and promote hatred.