Centerblue.org

The ink is barely dry on the Democratic majority in Congress and already both the far Left and the Right are spinning the numbers, statistics, and what it all means into a dizzying array of contradictory “facts.”

On the Right, you have the so-called “Architect” Karl Rove saying that the election landslide was really just “typical” for an election six years into a President’s term….and that other than a few relatively “minor” factors like Iraq the conservative movement remains on track to cementing a permanent majority. After all, he says, if just a few thousand votes had gone the other way the Republicans would still be in control. He foresees the resumption of Republican dominance in two years.

On the Left, you have folks like Atrios trying to claim that there is no “Center” in politics, and that what people have been hoodwinked into calling “the Center” is in fact the Left. He can’t think of anything that belongs to a “radical left” agenda that isn’t considered “centrist” by the pundits who say that centrism ruled the day in the election.

What a bunch of spin.

To Karl Rove: you can twist and massage numbers all you like. Don’t forget that the backbone of your “Republican hegemony,” Bush himself, was elected by a mere 300 or so votes in Florida. The fact is that this country is not interested in your twisted, bigoted brand of conservatism–and the last six years have demonstrated the Republican party’s incompetence in adhering to its own ideals of limited government, balanced budgets, and a strong and sensible national defense.

To Atrios and the Kos folks claiming a Left-driven mandate in Tuesday’s election: I can think of PLENTY of liberal ideas that if done by this Congress would cause voters from all those conservative and moderate districts we won to send their freshmen Democratic congressmen packing in two years:

• Tax increases on anyone except the most wealthy, especially if coupled with any spending increases.
• Over-regulation of business on issues that don’t affect the life and health of consumers.
• Unconditional granting of citizenship to illegal immigrants.
• Codifying gay marriage into law or re-opening the gays in the military debate.
• Immediate full withdrawal of troops from Iraq, as some liberals are demanding.
• Messing with the death penalty.
• A complete gutting of the Patriot Act instead of balancing the liberty compromised in each provision of the Act with the security benefit obtained (a balancing exercise never contemplated in the current version that consists merely of rights-limiting mandates.)
• Nationalization of health care with an accompanying tax increase (at least without a very clear explanation of how people would actually pay less than they do under the current system.)
• Outlawing the Pledge of Allegiance (or striking its references to God) in schools or any other such nonsense, as advocated by some liberals.
• Making abortion substantially easier to get than it already is.
• Radical environmental reforms (at least without a strong justification of how it relates to global warming, a fact which I think people of all political persuasions are beginning to accept.)

Now folks like Atrios and my friend Boztopia can claim that the Center is gone if they like, and that it’s really just part of a “sea of blue” that was theirs all along. Or they can claim that the Center simply moved Left. More likely, it’s the Left realizing the futility of some of its more radical ideas and understanding that in order to govern in this country they’re going to have to lurch somewhat to the Right whether they like it or not. The Center hasn’t gone anywhere–the Left has.

Look at other topics that were once considered conservative or centrist and are now all the rage among the Left: a strong national defense, a phased solution in Iraq, a balanced budget, cutting taxes such as the Alternative Minimum Tax, cracking down on employers who hire illegal aliens.

Folks, you can claim these were your ideas all along if you like, if they will help the new Congress govern from the “sensible middle.” (I personally don’t believe that’s the case, although I’m delighted that the Left finally got serious about the realities of what it takes to become a majority.) But it would be a sad and highly incorrect conclusion to assume that because people chose the ideas espoused by this “new Left,” if you will…that they by transitive property also signed on to all of the radical, batty, or even idealistic but unrealistic ideas that come from the far Left. It just isn’t so.

The Left can govern on a platform of sensible ideas that span the political Center, or they can go back to being an impotent minority. They can’t have both in a country that leaned Right after 9/11 without a lot of gentle nudging back to the Left that will take place only in small steps over time. Push too hard and too fast, and all those new Democratic districts will go right back to being Red in two years.

I would love to see GOP candidates skewered in November as part of a Democratic takeover of Congress. However there is one vulnerable GOP candidate, Rhode Island Senator Lincoln Chafee, who I would be saddened to see defeated. He is one of those rare few GOP mavericks that’s often on the right side of the issues. He’s committed to stewardship of the environment, recently meriting an endorsement from the Sierra Club (which drew the outrage of liberals with charges that “centrism is for suckers.”) He opposes opening ANWR to oil drilling. He favors conservation, increased efficiency, and alternative fuels as part of a national energy policy. He supports increased education funding. He opposed the Iraq war and favors a phased troop withdrawal.

The Left’s gunning for Chafee is understandable in an election year where a switch to a Democratic Congress is in reach. Chafee is not just being attacked from the Left, though–the far Right also has it in for him. The conservative so-called “Club for Growth” is endorsing GOP challenger Stephen Laffey in his bid to unseat Chafee in Rhode Island’s GOP primary next month. They are angry he voted against Bush’s tax cuts and refused to vote for Bush’s re-election.

It’s tough to be a moderate these days. I disagree with my more liberal friends who believe that all Republicans must be defeated as the only acceptable condition for victory. Not only is this unrealistic in a relatively conservative nation, it also hampers the chances of succeeding at the important things we need to do. Rare open-minded individuals like Chafee should be valued, not derided.

If I lived in Rhode Island and had to choose between Chafee and Democratic control of Congress I’d reluctantly choose the latter because the national GOP leadership has completely lost its way and is steering the country on a ruinous course. If it weren’t for such pressing issues, though, he’d be the rare Republican who would tempt me to cross party lines (something I have yet to do, ever.)

Religion is taking a left turn. According to that cbsnews.com article, the National Council of Churches represents about 50 million religious people, most of whom are mainline Protestants. Dr. Bob Edgar, the General Secretary of that organization calls his movement the “center-left” (which coincides neatly with the mission of this blog.) He is seeking to gain some of the same political muscle currently wielded by the Religious Right. The movement is focusing on such issues as poverty, the environment, and ending the war in Iraq.

Some of my friends on the Radical Left want to exorcize religion from all discourse in politics and in the Democratic Party. Their position is understandable, given the damage the rigidity of the Religious Right has inflicted on this country for 25 years. Unfortunately, their position also puts idealism over pragmatism.

Whether we like it or not, a majority of Americans are religious in one way or another. Insisting on invalidating their religious beliefs is a ticket to continuing to lose election after election, and is as foolish as any Democratic strategy that gives up on the South.

The Religious Left shows that religion is not incompatible with liberal beliefs, and in fact religion may more easily align itself with the Left than the Right on many issues. Protecting the environment, feeding the poor, and opposing a groundless war are beliefs that are easily reconcilable with Christian tenets. On other social issues, Edgar says:

“Jesus never said one word about homosexuality, never said one word about civil marriage or abortion.”

How true.

It’s time to stop ceding the argument that liberals and Christians are incompatible if we really want to win back the hearts and minds of Americans. The Religious Left sounds like a great start for that.