Another centrist bites the dust. Olympia Snowe is retiring. What happened to the big tent of the Republican Party?
There was a time when New England Republican was a badge of honor indicating a pragmatic approach to politics; generally conservative from a fiscal standpoint and moderate socially. Indeed, the Republicans were the default choice throughout New England for much of the last century and a half. Now unfortunately, they are a dying breed, with Susan Collins of Maine and Scott Brown of Massachusetts the vestigial remnants of a once-strong political animal.
The conservatives will laud Snowe’s retirement as showing their success in pushing out the RINOs (Republicans in name only) out of the Republican Party. However, it will make it more difficult for them to hold the Senate and probably the House, as independents will be turned off by a further swing to the right.
Perhaps this reinforces the need for a third party of the center, to attract all those RINOs, centrist Democrats and independents who are unhappy with the choices now open to them.
Resurrecting Democracy
em>A VietNam vet and a Columbia history major who became a medical doctor, Bob Levine has watched the evolution of American politics over the past 40 years with increasing alarm. He knows he’s not alone. Partisan grid-lock, massive cash contributions and even more massive expenditures on lobbyists have undermined real democracy, and there is more than just a whiff of corruption emanating from Washington. If the nation is to overcome lockstep partisanship, restore growth to the economy and bring its debt under control, Levine argues that it will require a strong centrist third party to bring about the necessary reforms. Levine’s previous book, Shock Therapy For the American Health Care System took a realist approach to health care from a physician’s informed point of view; Resurrecting Democracy takes a similar pragmatic approach, putting aside ideology and taking a hard look at facts on the ground. In his latest book, Levine shines a light that cuts through the miasma of party propaganda and reactionary thinking, and reveals a new path for American politics. This post is cross posted from his blog.
Political junkie, Vietnam vet, neurologist- three books on aging and dementia. Book on health care reform in 2009- Shock Therapy for the American Health Care System. Book on the need for a centrist third party- Resurrecting Democracy- A Citizen’s Call for a Centrist Third Party published in 2011. Aging Wisely, published in August 2014 by Rowman and Littlefield. Latest book- The Uninformed Voter published May 2020