Centerfield

If you look at Bush, and then you look at Kerry, and feel like you're caught between a rock and a hard place, then you're a centrist.

Now that Kerry has wrapped things up, it's time to think real hard about who one can support. Seems to me like it depends an awful lot on how afraid one is of islamofascism.

I sympathize with the point you're making about Bush, Rick. I've been fairly strongly anti-Bush from the outset -- I haven't seen him as a good president since he took office.

I would point out a couple of other things, though.

First, some of what passes for moderate opposition to the president is really center-left -- folks who sympathize with the left a bit more to begin with.

Hence the recent suggestion on Centrist America that the Democratic party is the most centrist voice in American politics today, and similar sentiments expressed by Erasmus here on Centerfield.

I disagree with that basic take on it, and am more inclined to view both parties as routinely rejecting their most prominent moderate voices and giving us, instead, someone with a more ideological bent.

I don't see either of the recent Democratic nominees -- Kerry or Gore -- as representative of strong centrist leadership.

Finally, I think we should define ourselves more in terms of the kind of leadership we want than a specific politician we oppose.

As I say, I'm more opposed to Bush than most people here (maybe anybody here). But that's not a cornerstone for centrist politics. Let the left and right fight it out in terms of who they dislike most, while we figure out what we should do now to fix various problems and build a positive future.

I think GWB is making it very difficult for true centirsts. Clearly, he is solidfying his base and figures he can do that first, then go after the center. The problem is, what he has to do to solidify his base makes it very tough for anyone who is a centrist or a moderate. So in the end a lot is going to be riding on what mistakes KERRY makes. I think one of them so far is not talking a bit more on terrorism than he has

I think Lakoff offers an explanation of why 'centrist' gets more response from the left than from the right -- but that's not why I started this comment, so I'll save that for Dogma and Utopia.

I see this election from a very practical viewpoint: I want more centrist policies (which in today's politics really means moderating far right policies).

Some possible outcomes for 2005-2007:

1) Bush and a GOP House and Senate.

2) Kerry and a GOP House and Senate.

3) Kerry and a divided Congress.

4) Kerry and a Dem Congress.

I don't see #4 at all; #3 is a longshot; #'s 2 & 1 are quite possible. (other combinations are too far-fetched to mention)

Option 1 will in no way, shape or form give us centrist policies. However, if in #2 Kerry makes good use of the 'bully pulpit', we could make progress swimming upstream.

Option 1 to me means that we're going to keep digging the hole deeper! This is not good.

The ONLY redeeming thing about #1 is that 2008 would be virtually guaranteed to be a Democratic year. 2006 could actually see a significant change if we keep digging at the current rate!

I would really hate to see the middle class significantly crippled -- we're limping now.

It's perfectly reasonable to be anti-Bush. I find myself in the same boat, Rick. All the pandering to social conservatives is seriously offputting. But, I'm more or less a single issue voter in 2004. That doesn't mean I'm wildly enthusiastic about it, though.

And John Kerry is not polarizing?

Rick, I just don't get where you come from on this. I define a centrist as someone with ideas from the left and the right. Right now the Conservative Republican President has signed campaign finance reform, increased funding for education more than Bill Clinton ever did, proposed to open up immigration laws, increased AIDS funding, proposed liberal prison reform measures, and signed a prescription drug benefit for seniors. All positions that the right wing of his party mostly oppose.

If you could show me one position John Kerry has taken that is outside of the class warfare, anti-growth, left-wing of his party, than maybe I would see where you are coming from a little more.

Is it just the gay marriage that pushed you over? I understand how you feel, but after a lot of thought I've come to this -- I really like that the President has taken the hardest road, the constitutional ammendment. It takes the longest, has to go through both houses and most of the states, and doesn't need his signature/veto. And I suspect he knows it doesn't have a prayer.
I'd rather it be framed as "Henceforth, neither the federal nor the states shall have a damn thing to do with marriage" but I'm not too upset.
On spending, while W has been a bit of a drunken sailor, a drunker sailor is worse.
On national security, I'm with the President all the way.
So it's got to be Bush. Let's help him to do better in his next term. And remember, he's only had a few months of peace time in his term.

Eventually, every centrist has to vote, which means getting off the fence and supporting one of the parties. It looks like I'll be supporting Kerry this year. He's weak on defense, but not terrible.

I supported the Iraq War, but I've lost confidence in Bush over not making a realistic post-mortem over the WMD debacle. If Bush were to say now that Iran has nukes, and we have to go in, I don't know that I'd believe him.

Matthew,

1. President has signed campaign finance reform,

Unwillingly. He's abandoned limits with his own fundraising

2. increased funding for education more than Bill Clinton ever did

Not my issue. I have no kids.

3.
proposed to open up immigration laws

That's a negative. I'm mildly anti-immigration (though I recognize that Kerry's bad on this issue too)

4.
increased AIDS funding

Not my issue.

5. proposed liberal prison reform measures

Never heard of this. Don't know if I'd favor it or not.

6.
signed a prescription drug benefit for seniors.

That's a positive.

Rick,

I'm asking myself the same question as you.

I don't like taking partisan positions, but I am increasingly anti-Bush. He's proposing a half-trillion dollar deficit for 2005. He was completely wrong about the threat from Iraq. It's time to say "you fired". Does that make me leftist?

I consider myself a Centrist, but probably Center Left. My vote was never really in doubt.

My view is that Bush is not even close to the center and because of that you should not apologize for not supporting him.

Is the Center only decided by a 50/50 split between the two parties or by some stable metric of policies? My belief is the latter.

Core of those metrics for me is conducting the government's business fairly and publicly. On this metric Bush has failed. Kerry might not be better, but I will choose the unknown rather than the known failure.

That is just one metric. Each person has to construct their own set of metrics, and decide which candidate is closer. It is my opinoin that most "centrist" constructions of those metrics will end up leading to a Kerry decision (but not all...there are still some sane reasons to vote for Bush).