Would someone please explain to me what they mean when they want a candidate that is "down the middle". What exactly does this mean in your view? Is someone who is down the middle sometimes a democrat and sometimes a republican? Are they sometimes for affirmative action and sometimes against it? Are they pro choice one day and pro life another? I do understand that the world is not black and white, but I have a really hard time figuring out what the whole "down the middle" view is. I would love to hear any views on this. I personally feel this is a generic and bland statement - that does not identify who a person really is. But I am open to hear what others thoughts are on this so when I hear it I can better know what exactly America is wanting in such a candidate. :usaflagwa
They are known as Centrists. Bill Clinton was called a Centrist by most people. Most people in America are either moderate Republicans or moderate Democrats. Ultra conservatives and extreme liberals are definitely the minority. Although centrists still have a stance on such topics as abortion, they are moderate on other social and economic facets of politics. Maybe someone can lend some good examples.
But they have the loudest mouths and they are always on TV. Take for instance that fella Jeanine Garoffolo, he's always on TV running his mouth about something or another.
Down the middle to me is someone who is willing to look at each issue individually, research it, and make an informed decision. I also believe down the middle refers to someone who is willing to let the residents of individual states decide how they live their lives. I, for instance, am pro-life, against gay marriage, feel like I should have the right to pray in public if I so choose (I also think an atheist has the right to refuse to listen to my prayer, and can tap dance and whistle dixie while I pray if they so choose), etc. The majority of people in the state of MS agree with me. So should the laws of our state. The majority of people in Massachusettes probably don't agree with me. They have the right to pass laws in their state to the contrary. If I live in Massachusettes and don't like it, I can move to Mississippi. Problem is, the Supreme Court strikes down many of these state laws, as with the partial-birth abortion thing in MS the other day. Critics of this will say it will further polarize the country, I say the country is already being polarized by the ACLU and the Supreme Court, so let the people decide how they wish to live. Let the conservative states be conservative, let the liberals be liberal, and keep the feds out of most of it. Unfortuantely, this will probably never happen, so you get the volatile politcal climate we have today. Down the middle to me means someone who is willing to let the people govern themselves to the greatest extent possible. The way the government is set up today, it's not possible. So you get people like me screaming conservatism while others scream liberalism. We are both afraid our rights are going to be taken away. Nothing fair about that. Don't know if I answered your question, but that's somewhat my definition of down the middle.
A true Centrist or Someoe down the middle is someone that will never be president cause he has no core group to get excited a make a bunch of noise. I would think, although not the most informed, that Joe Liberman would fall into this category.
http://www.centristcoalition.com/html/index.php?module=ContentExpress&func=display&ceid=4&meid=-1 Here is a web site that hopefully will get you there. It has there def and list of candidates etc.
There are different types of "down the middle" types. People that pick and choose from both the Republican and Democrat side. Then there are conservative Democrats and liberal Republicans. They might pick and choose what issues they agree with or they may just be a "somewhat" of a social conservative or "liberal" on fiscal policies, etc. Then there are some that just don't have strong beliefs. On the Democrat side there is Joe Lieberman, he is a conservative Democrat. He supports the war in Iraq just as strongly as most Republicans. He is a social conservative as well. Actually I'm not sure why he is a Democrat. Or Zell Miller from Georgia who is actually supporting Bush this year. Then there is John McCain who has both very strong conservative and liberal ideas. He is pro-life, yet anti- Marriage Amendment. Pro-military, yet against some tax cuts. His campaign finance reform was also pretty liberal. I could be wrong, but I think most moderates vote on the person.
If this is down the middle then count me in. I just always thought down the middle was more of a trying to please everyone kind of view and at the same time having little backbone to make a tough stand. I associated it with being vague on issues as to not piss people off one way or another in a feeble attempt to land their vote. But this is why I wanted to know what it meant to others.
Independent moderates don't always sit squarely in the middle of the road. They support issues to the left and to the right and on the average they can be considered centrists. But on individual issues they can be very passionately in one camp or the other. One of the problems with partisan politics is that the parties expect you to be in lock step with their entire agenda, which many moderates just can't do. I can support many republican economic and defense policies, but to be a republican I also have to be against a woman's choice and against the separation of church and state. I can support many democratic economic and human rights policies but to be a democrat I also have to be for socialized medicine and a welfare state. Independents are free to vote for candidates who have broad agendas, are inclusive of both parties, and keep the country on the road, not headed off into the left or right ditch. Unfortunately there is no centrist political party, and the moderate republicans and democrats are kept on short leashes by the parties. Moderate Republicans like Jack Kemp and John McCain along with moderate Democrats like Wesley Clark and John Breaux hold a lot of promise that both parties could move more to the center, for the good of the nation.
