Much of the Muslim world appears to be undergoing a profound change. For the United States and other Western nations, the questions of the moment are: “Who can we trust? Who should or would be our ally?” For a long time the United States had a pretty clear answer for this question. For all we…
Pew Typologies, part 3
After taking a closer look at the Pew Typology report, a few additional thoughts: (See previous posts and comments here and here.) The Online Quiz: While the original fine-grained survey was used to identify these political typologies, the online quiz is not an information-gathering device. It’s really just designed to suggest where you’d fit…
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…
Our Lost Faith in Professionals
Lately, it seems that every profession is under serious attack. Of course, lawyers have long been the butt of jokes. But now teachers are portrayed as leeches sucking the taxpayers dry, protecting their cushy jobs at all costs, and failing our children. Everyone seems to openly scoff at the idea that government “experts” know anything…
Threading the Moderate Needle on Same Sex Marriage
Attorney General Erik Holder seems to get stuck with the trickiest challenges. Yes, the debt ceiling, economy, and budget are no walks in the park. But as we’ve seen in the past, the two parties are often willing to each take money and walk away. And money comes on a sliding scale, so opponents can…
Pew Typologies, part 2
(This is an addition to the previous post, which I suggest you read first.) Some of the most important findings of the Pew typologies concern the growing number of non-partisan voters. This group (people who actually vote but don’t self-identify with either party) has grown substantially in recent years (from 30% to 37% since 2005)….
Pew Typologies, part 1
The Pew Research Center produces some of the top material on contemporary politics. This week the Pew Research Center for the People & the Press (one of the Pew Research Center’s seven “projects”) released a new set of polling data with findings about nine contemporary U.S. political types. The new Pew typology moves beyond the…
Justice
* This is one of those posts you’ll see here occasionally in which I’m thinking out load. I welcome your comments. Just be aware that I may reply by changing my mind. I’ve been reflecting recently on what it means that Osama bin Laden was “brought to justice.” Frankly, I’m a little bit uncomfortable…
The Impact of Polarization
A passionate moderate politics isn’t just about promoting moderate policy outcomes. It is more fundamentally about moving beyond the current polarized political environment so we can make productive changes for the benefit of our nation, whether those changes are liberal, conservative, or centrist. When the system itself is broken (or at least severely ailing), individual…
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….