No, more like a Commie pinko, if we want to complete the distortion you introduced.

***But Commies are actually totalitarians, which are as far right as fascists, in the real world. What you meant to say was Anarchist, although the Birchers would smite you good.

Please explain.

One of the debates WILL BE IN CLEVELAND. 26 FEB.

FYI.

(There's apparently no date or location set in Texas yet. What are they waiting for? This is a DEM debate! It should be held in AUSTIN, the state's famous liberal oasis!!!)

TS2: I have to agree with DLS on that statement.

…………………………………………………………………….

1. The public is not a peaky, spiky bell curve standing straight in the center. The US public is slightly to the right (which is where most of us moderates are). Where most are clustered defines what is moderate. Most on this site are left, well left, of center as well as “moderate.” “Moderate liberal” or “moderate Democrat” rather than far left or radical is the claim most of you can honestly make. Too many of you are distorted and see everything right of you as truly conservative and anything right of center or the general US public as “far right.”

2. Everyone slants or leans one way or the other: “Nobody is a dumb post.”

3. Plenty of right-leaning moderates, conservatives, and partisan Republicans (in a punitive mood) want to punish McCain and the GOP leadership by voting for Obama instead. Some of us simply think it's worth giving Obama a chance, period.

You and others routinely place so many of us there who aren't there you might not even recognize a real far righty if you encountered him or her (so far right he or she seemed “back around” on the other side, and you'd misjudge their populist nature for radical populism or populist radicalism).

Don't let the facts stand in the way of your beliefs and desires, though. In that you have plenty of company on your well-way-from-center (as opposed to my) placement.

Mr. Silver's statements that began this thread are well left of center, well left of Brookings, the DNC, and a number of Democratic politicians (particularly those who got burned and learned from the 1993-4 Clinton debacle and subsequent response from true moderates as well as those definitely on the right.). Were a contemporary movement to return toward constitutional federalism simply to cut costs in Washington and over-intrusion sought, many on this site would be repeating the myth (and likely lie) uttered by Schlesinger after 1994 as well as by fellow travelers like Pat Schroeder, that this was an attempt to return to the Articles of Confederation. (That's revealing insofar as what it implies about the intellectual and emotional capacities and levels of those to whom they were appealing.)

Putting the brakes on failure as well as monstrosity in Washington is in no way scary and Business as Usual is hardly “nuanced” (any more than turning one's hands and forearms in a circular motion while babbling about the need to “find a new paradigm in the policy-procedure mix” is).

Plenty of us who aren't “far right” [as goes the frequent lie on this site] or even well right of center would vote for McCain, holding nose and all (he's not a substantial alternative to the Democrats and Big Government), even people leaning left, as any time spent searching will reveal, if Hillary Clinton is the Democratic nominee.

I have to agree with DLS on that statement. The Clinton Machine has serious baggage that makes Senator Clinton very unpalatable to a sizable amount of the electorate. Watching how my once “ultra-loyal to the Clinton Machine” family jump ship to Senator Obama (and a few to Mike Huckabee) has been amazing.

To paraphrase the Bush administration using a quote from Braveheart:

“STOP MEN! DO NOT FLEE! WAIT UNTIL WE'VE NEGOTIATED!”

* * *

“anyone who isn't a conservative and says they can vote for him just hasn't studied his record enough”

Plenty of us who aren't “far right” [as goes the frequent lie on this site] or even well right of center would vote for McCain, holding nose and all (he's not a substantial alternative to the Democrats and Big Government), even people leaning left, as any time spent searching will reveal, if Hillary Clinton is the Democratic nominee. (It may depend on who the VP choices are and how seriously the choices are taken.)

No, more like a Commie pinko, if we want to complete the distortion you introduced.

I don't buy either state statement.

http://nationaljournal.com/voteratings/pdf/06re…

For the Dems, Obama was the most liberal Senator last year, Clinton the 15th most liberal.

“Sen. Barack Obama, D-Ill., was the most liberal senator in 2007 … the 16th- and 10th-most-liberal during his first two years in the Senate. Sen. Hillary Rodham Clinton, D-N.Y., the other front-runner in the Democratic presidential race, also shifted to the left last year. She ranked as the 16th-most-liberal senator in the 2007 ratings … In 2006, Clinton was the 32nd-most-liberal senator.”

“In 2007, Obama's composite liberal score of 95.5 was the highest in the Senate. Rounding out the top five most liberal senators last year were Sens. Sheldon Whitehouse, D-R.I., with a composite liberal score of 94.3; Joseph Biden, D-Del., with a 94.2; Bernie Sanders, I-Vt., with a 93.7; and Robert Menendez, D-N.J., with a 92.8. “

“Clinton, meanwhile, tied as the 16th-most-liberal senator in 2007 with Sen. Debbie Stabenow, D-Mich.; both had a composite liberal score of 82.8. Clinton's home-state colleague, Sen. Charles Schumer, D-N.Y., was the 15th-most-liberal, with a composite score of 83. “

Meanwhile, “Sen. John McCain, R-Ariz., the only other senator whose presidential candidacy survived the initial round of primaries and caucuses this year, did not vote frequently enough in 2007 to draw a composite score. He missed more than half of the votes in both the economic and foreign-policy categories. On social issues, which include immigration, McCain received a conservative score of 59.”

http://nj.nationaljournal.com/voteratings/

I'm afraid you're incorrect. A truly moderate position advocates leaving Iraq, but not stupidly rushing out prematurely; it also supports a reduced-size but long-term presence in Iraq if this presence is permitted by the authorities there, to do what the Arab League and the nations themselves are unable or unwilling to do when needed to resolve disputes that are going out of control. A truly moderate position in no way resists the Bush tax cuts, and always wants spending reduced, not only to prevent additional deficits in our future, but even if the taxes aren't reduce, to free what revenues can additionally be used to retire the debt as soon as we can do it.

Too many people seem to believe that “moderate” or “centrist” equates with the DNC, Brookings, or the New Deal Dinosaur, definitely liberal, Dem partisan late Arthur Schlesinger, Jr. (The DNC and other liberals even continue to use the term that is so misleading when such people use it to refer to themselves, “the vital center” — with vitality residing in Washington!)

Here is the 109th Senate Rank Ordering by Jeff Lewis and Keith Poole

There were 645 roll calls cast in the 109th Senate of which 544 roll calls had at least 0.5% or better in the minority and were used in the scaling. The rank ordering is based upon these 544 roll calls. Note that tied ranks are allowed.

The two parties are perfectly separated in the liberal-conservative ordering.
109 49309 25 WISCONS D FEINGOLD 55 536 0.897 1.000
109 14230 31 IOWA D HARKIN 36 540 0.933 2.500
109 14307 6 VERMONT D LEAHY 35 542 0.935 2.500
109 15011 71 CALIFOR D BOXER 33 521 0.937 4.000
109 10808 3 MASSACH D KENNEDY ED 15 530 0.972 5.500
109 40104 12 NEW JER D CORZINE 11 199 0.945 5.500
109 14914 12 NEW JER D LAUTENBERG 25 537 0.953 7.000
109 13039 52 MARYLAN D SARBANES 20 542 0.963 8.000
109 29142 5 RHODE I D REED 28 543 0.948 9.000
109 94240 6 VERMONT I JEFFORDS 49 517 0.905 10.000
109 14400 82 HAWAII D AKAKA 31 535 0.942 11.000
109 4812 82 HAWAII D INOUYE 40 488 0.918 12.500
109 14709 23 MICHIGA D LEVIN CARL 29 542 0.946 12.500
109 15021 21 ILLINOI D DURBIN 21 538 0.961 14.000
109 40101 33 MINNESO D DAYTON 36 516 0.930 15.000
109 49308 73 WASHING D MURRAY 40 539 0.926 16.000
109 14213 1 CONNECT D DODD 41 520 0.921 17.500
109 39310 73 WASHING D CANTWELL 41 537 0.924 17.500
109 14871 72 OREGON D WYDEN 51 542 0.906 19.000
109 29373 12 NEW JER D MENENDEZ 13 223 0.942 20.000
109 40502 21 ILLINOI D OBAMA 30 538 0.944 21.000
109 14440 52 MARYLAN D MIKULSKI 17 519 0.967 22.000
109 49300 71 CALIFOR D FEINSTEIN 39 535 0.927 23.000
109 14858 13 NEW YOR D SCHUMER 37 539 0.931 24.000
109 40105 13 NEW YOR D CLINTON 32 532 0.940 25.000
109 14920 3 MASSACH D KERRY JOHN 31 526 0.941 26.000
109 29732 23 MICHIGA D STABENOW 34 539 0.937 27.000
109 49901 22 INDIANA D BAYH 48 537 0.911 28.000
109 14101 11 DELAWAR D BIDEN 42 502 0.916 29.000
109 14912 66 NEW MEX D BINGAMAN 57 529 0.892 30.500
109 15704 1 CONNECT D LIEBERMAN 52 509 0.898 30.500
109 15703 25 WISCONS D KOHL 39 541 0.928 32.000
109 14922 56 WEST VI D ROCKEFELLER 28 434 0.935 33.000
109 15054 65 NEVADA D REID 33 543 0.939 34.000
109 40500 62 COLORAD D SALAZAR 44 532 0.917 35.000
109 14812 36 NORTH D D DORGAN 57 532 0.893 36.000
109 15502 36 NORTH D D CONRAD 79 525 0.850 37.000
109 1366 56 WEST VI D BYRD ROBER 87 530 0.836 38.000
109 15425 37 SOUTH D D JOHNSON 45 538 0.916 39.000
109 14651 43 FLORIDA D NELSON 74 541 0.863 40.000
109 49702 45 LOUISIA D LANDRIEU 66 530 0.875 41.000
109 29305 42 ARKANSA D LINCOLN 36 540 0.933 42.000
109 40301 42 ARKANSA D PRYOR 43 543 0.921 43.000
109 14203 64 MONTANA D BAUCUS 62 530 0.883 44.000
109 15015 11 DELAWAR D CARPER 56 542 0.897 45.000
109 40103 35 NEBRASK D NELSON BEN 106 542 0.804 46.000
109 49905 5 RHODE I R CHAFEE 76 531 0.857 47.000
109 14661 2 MAINE R SNOWE 53 536 0.901 48.000
109 49703 2 MAINE R COLLINS 46 544 0.915 49.000
109 14910 14 PENNSYL R SPECTER 70 531 0.868 50.000
109 15020 24 OHIO R DEWINE 65 543 0.880 51.000
109 40302 33 MINNESO R COLEMAN 33 520 0.937 52.000
109 49705 72 OREGON R SMITH GORD 48 539 0.911 53.000
109 29369 34 MISSOUR R TALENT 61 544 0.888 54.000
109 14506 22 INDIANA R LUGAR 48 538 0.911 55.000
109 14712 40 VIRGINI R WARNER 46 537 0.914 56.000
109 40300 81 ALASKA R MURKOWSKI 27 531 0.949 57.000
109 40501 43 FLORIDA R MARTINEZ 48 534 0.910 58.000
109 49704 35 NEBRASK R HAGEL 52 537 0.903 59.000
109 49903 24 OHIO R VOINOVICH 69 539 0.872 60.000
109 14103 66 NEW MEX R DOMENICI 24 519 0.954 61.000
109 12109 81 ALASKA R STEVENS 33 536 0.938 62.000
109 49307 67 UTAH R BENNETT 26 537 0.952 63.000
109 14009 46 MISSISS R COCHRAN 23 537 0.957 64.000
109 40304 54 TENNESS R ALEXANDER 43 536 0.920 65.000
109 49502 54 TENNESS R FRIST 33 542 0.939 66.000
109 49306 49 TEXAS R HUTCHISON 47 542 0.913 67.000
109 15501 34 MISSOUR R BOND 38 543 0.930 68.000
109 15701 64 MONTANA R BURNS 33 531 0.938 69.000
109 14852 32 KANSAS R ROBERTS 30 536 0.944 70.000
109 14503 67 UTAH R HATCH 23 530 0.957 71.000
109 29141 14 PENNSYL R SANTORUM 46 524 0.912 72.000
109 14226 31 IOWA R GRASSLEY 32 544 0.941 73.000
109 29754 37 SOUTH D R THUNE 42 530 0.921 74.000
109 40303 47 NORTH C R DOLE 36 538 0.933 75.000
109 14031 46 MISSISS R LOTT 32 501 0.936 76.000
109 29345 63 IDAHO R CRAPO 29 542 0.946 77.000
109 29918 45 LOUISIA R VITTER 46 530 0.913 78.500
109 94659 41 ALABAMA R SHELBY 43 535 0.920 78.500
109 14809 63 IDAHO R CRAIG 39 539 0.928 80.000
109 14921 51 KENTUCK R MCCONNELL 26 543 0.952 81.000
109 29523 32 KANSAS R BROWNBACK 50 535 0.907 82.000
109 29148 40 VIRGINI R ALLEN 37 542 0.932 83.000
109 29512 44 GEORGIA R CHAMBLISS 27 532 0.949 84.000
109 29909 44 GEORGIA R ISAKSON 22 537 0.959 85.000
109 29537 65 NEVADA R ENSIGN 50 536 0.907 86.000
109 15406 51 KENTUCK R BUNNING 26 530 0.951 87.000
109 15424 53 OKLAHOM R INHOFE 44 536 0.918 88.000
109 49706 68 WYOMING R ENZI 28 519 0.946 89.000
109 40305 49 TEXAS R CORNYN 36 538 0.933 90.000
109 15633 68 WYOMING R THOMAS 33 521 0.937 91.000
109 29108 62 COLORAD R ALLARD 38 542 0.930 92.000
109 49700 41 ALABAMA R SESSIONS 29 542 0.946 93.000
109 29566 48 SOUTH C R GRAHAM 62 525 0.882 94.000
109 29555 53 OKLAHOM R COBURN 56 538 0.896 95.000
109 29548 47 NORTH C R BURR 36 537 0.933 96.000
109 29936 48 SOUTH C R DEMINT 26 538 0.952 97.000
109 14826 4 NEW HAM R GREGG 63 536 0.882 98.000
109 29740 4 NEW HAM R SUNUNU 61 529 0.885 99.000
109 15039 61 ARIZONA R MCCAIN 99 505 0.804 100.000
109 15429 61 ARIZONA R KYL 37 542 0.932 101.000

You will notice that McCain is the second most partisan Republican in the Senate.

So much for moderation, you really should learn not to listen to the main street media.

If you really wanted moderation, you would have Senator Collins & Senator Ben Nelson on the ticket, a liberal republican and a conservative democrat. Unfortunately the only thing you find in the middle of the road are Yellow Stripes and Dead Armadillos