Yellow Stripes and Dead Armadillos

A couple of days ago, I relaunched a former blog — and right away was confronted by “Is Polimom really a ‘moderate’”? The question brought me up short, in part because I’ve never personally tried to define what I think a moderate is. While the question has been engaged here at TMV in the past, it’s been awhile — and I didn’t agree necessarily with everyone.

So I thought I’d share here how I answered over there. I’m very interested in what y’all think.

–Begin crosspost–

“There’s nothing in the middle of the road but yellow stripes and dead armadillos“
– Jim Hightower

I love that quote. It embodies the full-on contempt in which moderates are held by purists and ideologues, while simultaneously demonstrating complete ignorance of what a moderate is. Not only that, but although it was originally said by a left-wing populist, it’s been freely used by the right-wing as well. Equal opportunity ignorance is cool stuff!

And best of all, politics aside, it’s just flat-out funny. But for all its humor and usefulness to various interests, it does not describe moderates well at all.

Over the years, the “mighty middle” has been much maligned, even as their votes are coveted by both major political parties — understandably, since this same group is growing rapidly. How is it, then, that they’re so misunderstood?

It’s because, in the absence of any organized leadership, they’ve been defined by their detractors — a tactic that never works out well for the defined group. So I’m going to try to wrestle this into a box. Let’s start with what a moderate is not, since that gives rise to what is.

1. The first one’s easy: A moderate is not an extremist.

Extremists tend to think in black-and-white absolutes, while moderate politics are colored by shades of gray. In photography terms, the former gives you lots of contrast, but the latter offers more depth.

2. The second stems from the first: A moderate is not dispassionate.

Detractors commonly make the mistake of equating non-extremism with a lack of passion. This comes up very often around hot-button social issues. For instance: a moderate may think that abortion should be legal in most cases, but with some limits in later months of pregnancy — and hold very strong feelings about both aspects of that position.

3. This third one’s a bit more complex: Although centrists are often moderates, a moderate is not, by definition, a centrist.

Lately, I’ve seen these terms used interchangeably, and it’s disturbingly misleading. Unlike centrism, moderates do not seek “middle of the road” answers for the purpose of equally accommodating two opposing positions. Compromise for its own sake is not moderate politics.

The true hallmark of a moderate is the ability to engage in discussion with an honestly open mind. A moderate therefore recognizes that most positions, however strongly held, stem from valid concerns. This does not, however, mean that all positions are rational and must — or even can — be accommodated.

4. Finally (this last one might bother some folks): A moderate is not afraid to shift a position when confronted with rational reasons to do so. From the above, the why’s and wherefore’s are probably pretty clear on this one.

I also think there are quite a number of positions that most moderates agree on — but that’ll have to wait for another day. This post’s long enough already.

***

So — back to the opening quote about the stripes and dead critters.

I think Hightower’s problem (and others like him) is that he’s visualized a country road with two very narrow lanes and narrower shoulders. In my view, though, our political highway is a ten or twenty lane interstate, and there is no actual “middle”.

There are, however, any number of potholes — and the moderate route is navigated around them, with special care taken to avoid the shoulders… which are, as it happens, where I personally have seen the most dead armadillos.