These guys have a good point. It was not "liberal" Democrats that made big gains in '06 and '08, it was moderate/centrist Democrats. And a fair number of GOP lawmakers in this new Congress are moderate/centrist Republicans. The fringes of both parties are the problem...they guys near the center on both sides are the ones who need to be calling the shots.
"We're a center-right group," Dent said. "Some are closer to the center, some are closer to the right. . . . This is a center-right country, and we need to govern that way."
I may not agree with "center-right country, but centrist I do agree with.
It's nice to see a few Republicans with some sense.
Technorati Tags: Politics, Republicans
The point is well taken that it wasn't liberals who brought the Dems to majority. This is something you can thank Rahm Emanuel for. It's also something you need only peruse a presidential election map to understand. The vast, vast majority of congressional districts are center-right. Emanuel correctly calculated that for Dems to win a majority, they had to run at least mildly conservative candidates in these districts, vice standard-fare, Pelosi-democrats. This was fine with Nancy Peolisi, because she figured (Correctly) she could keep her caucus in line, and get votes for herself for speaker.
ReplyDeleteAnd, in the House, the Speaker wields tremendous power, and sets the agenda. And, with Obama's ascendence to the Presidency, it was no-holds-barred for Nancy and her mostly far-left leadership team.
Unfortunately for Queen Pelosi, voters in those red districts figured out in 2010 that their reps, conservative as they no doubt were, were helping this cabal usher in a new age of Liberalism. They also correctly identified that if you wanted conservative governance, you needed the leadership to be also conservative, and that in those red districts, you might as well have the real thing, which, in this election, means a republican.
So, now the GOP holds, what, a 50 seat majority or some such.
A center-right country would not enact a government-controlled, highly-regulated health care system, would not run up 2.5T MORE in deficit spending in 2 years, and will not impose additional taxes on the American people in the form of cap-and-tax legislation.
Those are staples of leftists, and the American people have spoken.
I have no use for moderates. To be "moderate" means "I stand for nothing."
Center-right? Sure, that's fine, and with the compromise necessary to pass and repeal legislation, if we end up somewhere center-right, that will be ok, but, that's not where we were headed.