The Divide
We are witnessing a fracturing of the Democratic party. The emergence of politicians such as Bernie Sanders and Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez and their progressive, unapologetic policies has given a voice to the far left.
The party’s swing to the left has resulted in anyone who voices support for bipartisan solutions being labeled a “moderate,” a term that is not often employed as a compliment. Representative Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, or A.O.C., (NY-14), a newly elected member of the House of Representatives, and an ardent advocate for the party’s shift to the left, recently stated:
“Moderate is not a stance, it’s just an attitude towards life, like ‘meh’. But here’s the thing that upsets me. We’ve become so cynical that we view meh (moderates), or that we view cynicism (moderates) as an intellectually superior attitude.”
While A.O.C. and others like her may be the loudest voices of the Democratic party, they do not represent the beliefs and values of many moderate Democrats.
How Dems Got Here
For years, Democrats have focused so much on social issues that they have neglected to provide a clear message about economic policy. Younger voters are hungry for economic solutions. At some point, the vague promises of “making the rich pay their fare share” and “giving people a living wage” started to feel empty, paving the way for Bernie Sanders-like candidates who had stronger ideas for economic policy. Though his plans were progressive, they were more concrete than anything offered by previous Democratic candidates. Following the 2016 presidential election, Hillary Clinton stated, “I think we Democrats have not provided as clear a message about how we see the economy as we need to.” She continued, “We need to get back to claiming the economic mantle—that we are the ones who create the jobs, who provide the support that is needed to get more fairness into the economy” [2].
A Moderate is Not a Liberal Who Lacks Courage
Moderate Democrats want progressive policy, but not at the cost of bipartisanship. Moderates understand that all opinions have merit and that every view is worthy of consideration. They know that the best way to find pragmatic, long-lasting solutions is to listen and to understand. It takes grit and determination to stand for bipartisanship at a time when “ideologues on the left and the right would reduce our options to all-or-nothing hashtags or an unrealistic, unaffordable grab bag of goodies” [3]. Moderates believe that the best way to create change isn’t by forcing people do things your way, but by participating in an open, honest discussion and by debating until both sides can have their views and goals represented.
Progressive Democrats often couch their narrative with phrases like “if people really understood the issue” or “if they had all of the information” or “if they considered the context,” insinuating that their view is the only educated, logical response to the issue. This narrative isolates progressive Democrats, leaving them unable to pass the policy that they so desperately want. By respecting all views and seeking out differing opinions, moderates have positioned themselves to work with others. Before he died, Senator John McCain perfectly described the “moderate” approach to governing. He stated:
“What have we to lose by trying to work together to find those solutions? We're not getting much done apart. I don't think any of us feels very proud of our incapacity. Merely preventing your political opponents from doing what they want isn't the most inspiring work. There's greater satisfaction in respecting our differences, but not letting them prevent agreements that don't require abandonment of core principles, agreements made in good faith that help improve lives and protect the American people” [4].
Moderates Practice What Liberals Preach
“Stronger together” is just empty rhetoric if we aren’t willing to overlook differences. As a party, we are so willing to overlook race, sexual orientation, gender, religion, demographics, education, professions, ethnicity, among many other things, but we often refuse to see past ideology. That mindset is just as harmful as President Trump. We might not use fear as a motivator, but our rhetoric is just as divisive. We might not be racist, but our comments are still condescending. We might feel like we are the champions of tolerance and acceptance, but we leave roughly half of the country feeling judged because they see things differently than we do.
SOURCES:
[2] https://www.newyorker.com/magazine/2016/10/31/hillary-clinton-and-the-populist-revolt