US midterms: A beacon for moderation?

The run-up to this week’s elections in the United States appeared rife with polarizing campaign rhetoric about the “extreme right” and “radical left.”Nevertheless, the results once again surfaced the occasionally obscured but consistent political preference among Americans: They generally want moderation and reasonableness when it comes to political leadership and policies.Both liberal and conservative analysts have highlighted the midterm results as a “lesson” for the two main parties, as they look toward the presidential elections two years hence. But the message is about something deeper than scoring political wins or gaining a partisan edge. In many ways, the vote serves as a demand to honor, not discount, what one newspaper describes as Americans’ preference for “something considerably more valuable: decency and normalcy.” Tuesday’s results, the Las Vegas Sun wrote, “demonstrated the power of what might be called the extreme middle: a politics that is moderate in temperament but uncompromising in principle.”There is evidence to counter the “conventional wisdom ... that American voters are polarized and hyperpartisan,” according to a 2022 report in the American Political Science Review. Detailed analysis of public opinion data by a group of six academics found “there are many genuine moderates in the American electorate” who are “not partisan or ideologically extreme” – but are often overlooked.“The majority makers are in the center,” according to Jim Kessler of the centrist think tank Third Way. Democrats won a larger than expected majority this week by nominating mainstream centrists and ignoring “far-left social issues,” he told Newsweek magazine. On the other side, according to the conservative National Review, Republicans in competitive races “fared better when they disavowed populist policies.” The day after the election, commentator John Hood emphasized that “our country needs a conservative movement devoted to ... economic opportunity, federalism, the rule of law, and republican virtue.”Such statements point to the opportunity for more bipartisanship and compromise, as one party holds a majority in both chambers on Capitol Hill, while the other holds the executive reins. President Donald Trump has indicated an initial willingness to work with Democrats on Capitol Hill. Several Democrats are responding in a similar vein.Voters “didn’t send us [Democrats] to Washington for political retribution,” Texas Sen.-elect James Talarico said on CNN after winning a hotly contested race.Current Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries, who is expected to run for speaker in the next session, shared similar sentiments. “The American people don’t want us to get even. They want us to get things done on their behalf,” he said on MS NOW.Getting things done is likely to require making compromises and charting a middle-of-the-road approach, which are sometimes derided as political weakness or timidity. But, in the words of a former U.S. president and successful military general, that would be mistaken and shortsighted. Deepen your worldviewwith Monitor Highlights.Politics with respectGet political stories with respectful analysis.There‘s a world of new ideas in everyBooks newsletter.There‘s more to life, enrich yours withCulture & Learning weekly.Follow humanity‘s discoveries withScience & Nature stories in your inbox.Gain a spiritual perspectivefrom the stories in your inbox.Want to understand the deeper impact of critical events? Learn the Monitor‘s insight.Already a subscriber? Log in to hide ads. “The Middle of the Road is derided by all of the right and the left. ... Yet here is the truly creative area within which we may obtain agreement for constructive social action compatible with basic American principles,” President Dwight D. Eisenhower said in a 1949 speech. “It is the area in which are rooted the hopes and allegiances of the vast majority of our people.” ALREADY A SUBSCRIBER? LoginReal news can be honest, hopeful, credible, constructive.The Christian Science Monitor was founded in 1908 to lift the standard of journalism and uplift humanity. We aim to “speak the truth in love.” Our goal is not to tell you what to think, but to give you the essential knowledge and understanding to come to your own intelligent conclusions. Join us in this mission by subscribing.