A Weblog of Centrist Voices in American Politics
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A Weblog of Centrist Voices in American Politics | |
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August 20, 2003Lieberman's StrategyThe Washington Post has an article analyzing Lieberman's strategy
So far, it does not look like this strategy is working for him. But I still value it as a sanity check on the temptation for other Democrats to stake out positions far to the left. They'll still do it, but perhaps to a lesser extent than if Lieberman's voice was not there. Posted by rickheller at August 20, 2003 07:54 PM Comments
I value it as a simple matter of "truth in advertising". Running for office in a democracy is essentially a way of saying "I think we need to do X to resolve our problems". All of this running to the left or right for a while and then switching to the middle is just plain dishonest. It reflects an unwillingness to be straight with the American public about what you intend to do if elected. I think it's *particularly* important for centrists to learn this lesson. The single strongest criticism of us is that we are "wishy washy", that we can't make up our mind, and that we are therefore not strong leaders. A centrist needs to run on the basis of clear positions to counteract that impression and to set himself (or herself) up for a strong and decisive performance in office. When it comes to national leadership -- the presidency -- I don't think there's any real alternative to bold centrist leadership. And I very much appreciate the bold approach Joe is taking. I second your observation, however, that it is not working for him. He's not winning ... nor is he really well positioned to win. The essential reason, I think, is the war in Iraq. Joe's departure from liberal policies happens to coincide with a foreign policy issue that became critical right during the time the field of Democratic candidates would launch their campaigns. As a result, he's really lost the core constituency in the party. And his situation is all the worse because Bush's post-war policies in Iraq haven't worked. The worse things remain in Iraq, the more Democrats will oppose the choice we made in going to war. And the greater their passion will become on the issue. I sense that Lieberman is a remarkably talented politician ... but swimming upstream, under present circumstance. I also think that situation might be different if we moderates and centrists had a real constitutency in this country -- a real set of core activists to bring to the polls to counterbalance those on the left and right who give all that electoral punch to the candidates they like. We get the government we deserve precisely because we don't organize with anywhere near the energy or vitality of those on the right and left. Posted by: William Swann at August 21, 2003 07:41 PM |
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