The Case for Moderation

There has never been a better time in America to be a moderate.

Political polarization is ever-increasing. Look at the growing rate of landslide victories by county for the last seven presidential elections. In nearly 2/3s of our country, the victory margin for Trump or Clinton wasn't even close.

Centrists, who are often mischaracterized as wishy washy, are more concerned with truth than being right. They are bound by pragmatism rather than ideology.

The untold story here is that the middle is shrinking. And now that their size is decreasing, their influence is growing. It is getting harder to convince liberals or conservatives to vote for the opposition––rank and file has become the norm. The only place left to turn is the middle. We are the ones who get to decide elections.

The old maxim "campaign in poetry, govern in prose" has been rendered obsolete so far in the Trump presidency. He's still all talk. And his supporters love him for it. If this trend continues, politicians won't have to create much policy to please their base, as long as they continue to attack their opposition in clever, bite-sized tweets.

That means politicians will be forced to woo moderates. And we won't be swayed by anything less than action.