America’s Race to the Middle

This Wall Street Journal piece on America’s Race to the Middle After Years of Gridlock,Campaign ‘08 May Yield A New Political Center is an optimistic look at the ways in which the political process may be moving more towards cooperation. It seems to me that a few adjustments to campaign finance and redistricting can accelerate the movement of the pendulum back towards the middle.

Ms. Vanderslice is part of a new wave of younger activists willing to reach across party lines for the causes they advocate. She has, for example, pushed legislation sponsored by a pro-life Democrat and a pro-choice Republican designed to reduce abortions by increasing support for family-planning programs (something Democrats like), and by increasing assistance for women who choose to keep their babies (something Republicans like). That puts her in the vanguard of like-minded activists who are starting to reshape the values debate…