Move to the Middle? Get Off the Fence

Republican Senator Olivia Snowe recently criticized the Republican party for its refusal to move to the center with its platforms.  This is an incredibly shallow position.  

The center of politics is not a compilation of well thought out compromises.  It more closely resembles a pattern of caving in by one side or the other.  When one has come to a position on an issue after having considered the available information, what would be the motive for moving to the middle on it?  Certainly we do not expect or demand that everyone agrees with our position on all items, but when they don’t neither does that mean we are wrong. 

The purpose of compromise is to move forward on an issue that requires some action and there are two differing opinions on what action is needed.  In a compromise the two sides look for common thoughts and ideas.   This does not mean either must compromise their philosophy.  A compromise requires both sides to give in to some degree on their idea of what action is needed, it does not require them however to change their philosophy.  Nothing prohibits someone who is of one persuasion politically, lets say on the right, or conservative, from compromising on a specific issue with someone of another persuasion, lets say, liberal.  Some issues do not require action.  Sometimes it is the best thing when nothing is done.  This is an idea that seems to escape our current political leaders.  It is quite possible, even probable, that America’s founders organized our political landscape the way they did with the very thought in mind that it should be difficult to make changes.  There are times when, if the ideological sides cannot agree, it may be best to do nothing.  Why have we adopted the saying of a California criminal as our political mantra - “Can’t we all just get along?”.  Making policy decisions is not about getting along.  It is about doing what you believe to be right.  Getting along is completely irrelevant when it comes to making policy decisions.

Senator Snowe argues that the refusal of the Republican party to move to the center is why they have suffered recent defeats.  A much better and stronger argument can be made that it is their very willingness to do just that, i.e. move to the middle away from their conservative roots, is the actual cause of their recent failures.  How can one say that many conservative leaders have not moved to more liberal views in an effort to appease in recent years?  Since the late 90’s Republicans have been less and less conservative and more moderate, even liberal in their opinions and policies.  Just examine social spending in the last decade.  In the early to mid 90’s Republicans achieved great success with their Contract for America, a very conservative ideology. 

The facts and history argue against Senator Snowe’s opinion.