The Feld-Blog

When have you ever heard of a Republican Politician running to the center to get elected? Last I checked, Hillary Clinton has taken flak for it, Joe Liberman has too, and of course Jon Kerry. But what all these elected officials seem to have in common is that they are Democrats (not progressives, I would say, but Democrats). Yet somehow without running to the center, Republicans have dominated the political landscape for the last few decades. It's not becuase the nation is conservative - far from it. By any metric, the large majority of voters are in the center - not center-left and not center-right, but simply the center. So why have Progressive politiicans castrated their own chances of survival by putting forth a weak, vascilating value structure? Progressives need to stick to their values and explain to the American people why those values are important. Democrats need to hold their ground and fight it out, not simply give in.

This is not a “flip-flopping” issue. If situations change, and you stick to your values, you may have to change your vote. Opponents lambasted Jon Kerry because he changes his vote revealiign and underlying change in values. George Bush, by contrast, will stick violently by his decisions, even as situations change and this necessitates a change in policy.

What? But Bush claims that his is a strong leader who stands by his values. Well…. that’s not really true. What Progressives need to show the American people is that changing positions underlie changing evidence not changing values. Progressives believe in fairness, equity, freedom, strength and a government’s responsibility to help people, not punish them. As the situation in America changes, the public policy solutions may have to change, but Progressives must unite behind these immutable values.

Stop running to the center. It is important to stick by our Progressive values. Running to the center as Kerry, Lieberman, and Clinton have done only shows weakness. Strength is in standing by our values. Strength is in doing what we know is best for the country not just what is politically expedient.