E.J. Dionne believes there is a Revolt of the Middle. While that maybe true it is not quite as he describes. He doesn't get many moderates just like the beltway doesn't get "values voters". Being a moderate Evangelical, I get to be doubly misunderstood. :-)
But something important has happened since President Bush's inauguration. America's moderates may not be screaming, but they're in revolt. Many who reluctantly supported the president and the Republicans in 2004 are turning away. The party's agenda on Social Security, judges and the Terri Schiavo case is out of touch with where moderate voters stand. Worse for Bush and his party, most moderates have a practical, problem-solving view of government and think these issues are far less important than shoring up a shaky economy and improving living standards.
Wrong. Many moderates -- at least religious moderates -- are not merely green-eye-shade pragmatists. There is principle behind who we are. We are concerned about the process as well as the policies. We don't require partisan advocates to be lite versions of the other party. Rather, we want the advocacy done fairly, honestly, and without the over-the-top rhetoric. The reason why Bush gained much of our support was because of the overly-strident critique of him by the Left. That support is cut into, however, if the Republicans return in kind.
The latest poll to bring home this message was released late last week by the Democracy Corps, a Democratic consortium led by pollster Stan Greenberg and consultant James Carville. Greenberg and Carville are not triumphalist. They are careful to note that "Democrats are not yet integral to the narrative" of American politics and that the decline in the Republicans' public image "is not accompanied by image gains for the Democrats." Democrats still have a lot of work to do.
The work the Democrats need to do is to turn down the temperature. Otherwise, what the Republicans are doing wrong will not benefit them. At least for religious moderates, this is a matter of principle. But what is that principle? What do religious moderates require of politicians? The same God requires of us all (Micah 6:8):
He has showed you, O man, what is good.
And what does the LORD require of you?
To act justly and to love mercy
and to walk humbly with your God.
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