The Moderate Republican: The Center Grows

What the Moderate Republican Stands For

Republicans came to power as the party of big ideas, and without returning to that model they could be looking at a long winter. Additionally, those big ideas need to focus on Middle America. Three issues that could work are conservation, reform and localism.

Conservation- a return to the Teddy Roosevelt model of conservation. One doesn’t necessarily have to buy into global warming to appreciate the need to protect the natural resources we have.

Reform- the federal government is bigger than ever, and won’t be getting any smaller over the next four years. Republicans need to fashion themselves as national reformers. Much of Middle America wants the government as safety net, but bloated bureaucracies breed corruption that needs to be dealt with.

Localism- this is the lynchpin that brings it all together. If we bought our food locally, shopped locally, governed locally, many of the issue we now have to deal with would go away, or at the least become manageable.

Below is a collection of writers who speak about the things that matter. Some are Right, some Left and some Center, but all intelligent and rational voices.

This graph from Pew Research shows how the middle keeps growing at the expense of both the hard right and the hard left. However it may be of more concern to Obama than the GOP right now. From the WSJ

For the Obama administration, the rise of independents so soon after the election should be a wake-up call. While Mr. Obama remains very popular among independents, their approval of the Democrat-controlled Congress is at 29%. Independents identify with the president's desire to overcome the left-right divide, but his fiscal record looks increasingly at odds with his rhetoric of responsibility.

The Moderate Republican

What the Moderate Republican Stands For

The American Conservative » Rod Dreher

Via Meadia

Front Porch Republic

David Brooks

The Soap Box

The Center Grows

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