The Political Center is Alive and Doing Well
I was talking with a friend in Daytona Beach a couple of days ago. We were discussing non-competitive business ventures in which we’re engaged and how we can help each other. We talked about politics a little, too, and we both realized that while Bob has done a fair amount of Republican fundraising, and I worked for a Democratic candidate in the last election, most of our goals are the same.
Bob and I both want a happier, more prosperous America. We both want civil political discourse, not yow-yowing from extremists. We want competence and efficiency in government. We like freedom, peace, and streets we can walk (or drive) at any hour of the day or night without worrying about getting robbed.
We disagree on some of the means to achieve these goals, but the fact is that we agree on the goals, which makes the debate over how to achieve them minor by comparison.
By most definitions, we are political moderates. We are willing to compromise. Neither of us expects to win all political debates or to have everything go our own way.
The two of us could probably get into wonderfully detailed discussions of the framers’ intent when they created our Constitution, but the essence of that creation was compromise. The Constitution did not make everyone happy at the time (and still doesn’t), but it was a document a new nation could and did live with and use as the foundation of its government.
I’ve heard plenty of True Believers say, “The only thing you find in the middle of the road is a yellow line and roadkill.”
Fine. Let’s start the Yellow Line Party.
While the True Believers yell at each other, we Yellow Liners can calmly work together to build a better, stronger, happier country.
Or perhaps all we need is Yellow Line factions in the existing parties. I could be a Yellow Line Democrat and Bob could be a Yellow Line Republican.
Perhaps you should become a Yellow Line (whatever) yourself.
All it really takes to be a Yellow Liner is an awareness that you may not have all the answers to everything, so you need to listen to other people’s ideas and be willing to change your mind if their ideas prove to be more workable than yours.
One more thing: You need to develop a “we’re all in this together” mindset to be a Yellow Liner. You need to remember that even if we disagree on methods, we share a single, simple, long-term goal: to make life better not only for ourselves, but for everyone.
You do agree that this is a worthwhile goal, don’t you?