A Weblog of Centrist Voices in American Politics
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A Weblog of Centrist Voices in American Politics | |
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March 02, 2004Centrist BooksGreg is reading Independent Nation : How the Vital Center Is Changing American Politics by John Avlon. Here is the Publishers Weekly blurb: Avlon, a columnist for the New York Sun, a staffer in Clinton's 1996 election campaign and former chief speechwriter for Rudy Giuliani, argues that centrism, "the rising political force in modern American life," also offers the best chance for America to prosper. Part history, part political philosophy, part roadmap for centrists, this volume demonstrates Avlon's thesis by exploring political battlegrounds-from state primaries to presidential campaigns-in which a centrist message succeeded. To Avlon centrism is not a matter of compromise or reading polls; rather it's an antidote to the politics of divisiveness, providing principled opposition to political extremes.I'll be on the lookout for this. One book which I have read, and mostly disagree with is Dead Center: Clinton-Gore Leadership and the Perils of Moderation by James MacGregor Burns and Georgia J. Sorenson. It argues that Clinton could have been a transformational leader had he maintained an aggressively liberal course and not tacked to the center. To my mind, the book completely ignores the reality that the public in the 1990's did not want aggressive liberal leadership. Clinton followed the public's lead by conserving the best parts of the Reagan legacy while correcting its excesses. Had he followed the authors' advice to be a transforming leader, only a small minority of the voters would have followed him, and he would have been a loser in 1996. Dead Center is only worth reading as an inspiration to debate and argument. Posted by rickheller at March 2, 2004 11:16 AMComments
I read "Dead Center" a while back, probably should have reviewed it, but the thesis of the book was rather maddening. Essentially, as you point out, Burns & Sorenson take Clinton to task for not living up to his claim of being a transformational leader. Fair enough. But they mix it up with a derisive treatment of trying to identify what is so "new" about the "center" in analyzing the rhetoric of Clinton's candidacy. Its obvious that the authors don't see much intellectual honesty in anyone who isn't a committed liberal or principled conservative, and admittedly, Clinton was not the poster child to prove the authors wrong on this point. Personally, I think one interview with Charles Peters might have set them straight, but perhaps that's wishful thinking. Burns, in particular, is a bit set in his ways ... and I don't say that like its a good thing. The net result of reading that book is that I wanted a refund on the time devoted to it. "Independent Nation" covers a broad spectrum of the center of political thought and it also gives treatment to its successes and failures. While I hate to oversell it (especially since I don't get royalties!), it may be the best book for those of us in the middle looking for inspiration, analogies, and other wise words to heed. I'm through a mere chapter of this book and I can't recommend it enough. Posted by: Greg Wythe at March 2, 2004 11:38 AMJust ordered it through Amazon, and I can't wait to read it. I'm very interested in the threads of centrism the author apparently draws through modern American history. I'm not sure we consciously thought of moderation as a style of politics back in the Ike and JFK days ... but, ironically, even though we have an actual centrist movement now, it seems like moderates were more prominent back then than they are now. I'm also curious about the argument that centrism is "the rising force in American politics". It is certainly a force, with the Clinton heritage and all, but ideological politics has also strengthened and our nation become more clearly divided politically than in any time in recent memory. We need to make centrism the force in American politics, but it will take a lot of work to get there. Posted by: William Swann at March 2, 2004 01:19 PMWilliam, I think you aren't taking into account the great silent majority that I think still exists out there. The problem will be getting them to BE vocal -- and more proactive. "Independent Nation" sounds like a book that just might get me to read something political! I'm going to have to check it out myself. Posted by: Heather Feuerhelm at March 2, 2004 10:38 PM |
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