I get the DLC emails. The are constantly claiming that they ARE Clinton, and that Clinton was "centrist", and Clinton won, and therefore, "centrist" is the way to go this time too.
First of all, I don't really know what they mean by "centrist". I shudder to think that it just means taking the "middle" position on every issue. There are some issues that have no middle. Abortion, for example. And in any case, the "middle" is not a stable place. It can change. It would mean shifting one's principles in order to be in the middle. This may be OK for a lot of issues, but not all. And it also, by definition, allows others to frame the debate. All a "centrist" can do is react to where the middle is, and go there. When does a centrist stand his or her ground?
Not only that, during a campaign, candidates and campaign managers and pundits are trying to figure out where the “middle” will be on election day. “Middle” in the sense of the critical mass of votes. The day after the election, the headlines could read “America swings to the left” or “Voters show no desire for change”, depending on who wins, by how much, and how many voters show up. But the point is that we won’t know until the day after. Only about 2/3 of the total population is eligible to vote. Less than half the eligible voters (usually) vote. Even if there is only two candidates, in a close race the winner will get about half of the votes. That means that the “direction” of the country is determined by about 16-18% of the population. (This was true in 2000. Bush got 50 million votes, which is 18% of the total population of the US.) So what does “centrist” mean in that context?
Secondly, I submit that Clinton was NOT "centrist" when he was elected the first time. At least not in a way that a label like that makes any sense. Consider this list of early Clinton actions:
Jan. 22, 1993- first executive action- revoked the Gag Rule, which prohibited abortion counseling in clinics that receive federal funding to serve low-income patients.
Feb. 5- The Family & Medical Leave Act — the first piece of legislation the President signed into law.
April 1- Childhood immunization- 90 percent or more of America's toddlers receiving critical vaccines for children by age 2.
May 20- Motor Voter Registration Signed
July 19- “Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell”
September 22- Health care reform
These are not "centrist" actions. Clinton became centrist in 1994 because he HAD TO. The Congress went Repub. And yet, Clinton still drew a line in the sand by shutting the government down in 1995 when the Repub Congress would not pass his (balanced) budget.
I dislike the label "centrist" . I don't think it has any real meaning. But whatever it means, let's face it, any modern candidate who has a realistic shot at national office must be more or less centrist...or at least must appear to be so. The DLC's attempt to contrast Dean (for example) with the allegedly centrist Clinton is a deception. Clinton was all over the ideological map during his two terms, for various reasons. Dean is too. Civil unions, state's rights gun control, balanced budget, national health care. Individuals can have individual positions on various issues that don't fit neatly into the categories we want them to.
These labels are a convenience we use to make things easier for us to think about. But we have to remember that the labels are only a tool, and sometimes not the right tool.
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