Centrism

Pundits, Part II

In contrast to George F. Will, I continue to enjoy David Brooks. I appreciate his Hamiltonian conservatism and his commitment to moderation in our politics. His latest column is no exception. In contrast to Will’s goal of a political victory, Brooks’s goals is a governance victory. The question he poses to Republicans is not “How…

Semantics: Moderate v. Centrist II

My earlier post (here) received a thoughtful response this week from Solomon Kleinsmith over at Rise of the Center, so I thought I’d take the opportunity to continue that conversation here. Readers may want to take a look at his comment on the earlier post, to which I’ll be replying. (Also, if you’re interested in…

Semantics: Moderate v. Centrist

As you may have noticed already, my use of the term “moderate” is a bit different than what you’ll hear in ordinary political discourse. When someone is called a moderate that usually just means “less dedicated to liberal or conservative principles than other members of the person’s party.” It’s a policy scale that imagines U.S….