By David Smith ‘06 News Guest Writer
“Oh, you’re a moderate? So, you don’t really take a firm stand on anything and just prostitute yourself to whichever side is polling better, right?” If another person says this to me, I may start throwing chairs. Yes, I am the president of the Young Democrats here on campus and, yes, I am widely considered to be a moderate but this doesn’t mean that I am either undecided or uncommitted.
I am a Democrat. That’s the first thing I’m going to do on my next birthday: register as another Connecticut Democrat. I am a Democrat because I believe in the idea of equality of opportunity. I believe that I do not have a fundamental right to dictate the health choices of women or the curriculum of a biology classroom. I think trickle-down economics is a bad Monday morning joke. I stand for free speech and equal legal rights for all Americans. I don’t believe that I have a right to impose my morality on my neighbor but I do believe I have a moral obligation for his well-being, even if it is not in my own self-interest. I want my government to look out for the disadvantaged and the elderly but I certainly don’t want the government looking into my bedroom or my library records.
I am a Democrat but I am not always a loyal Democrat. I fear activist judges from the left as much as I fear them from the right. I believe in a slim and efficient government. I believe in lower taxes and freer trade. I believe that economic competition can be extremely good, especially for those Americans who need the money they save at the big discount store in order to buy food and pay for prescriptions. I believe going into Iraq was a mistake but that pulling out of Iraq immediately is ridiculous. I feel that war is justifiable and that America should never put itself in a situation where decisions about its policy are determined in foreign capitols. I see a balanced budgets and states’ rights as things to be encouraged and I expect my government to use all of the means at its disposal to protect me.
The fact that I see policies from both sides of the aisle as having value does not make me weak or soft; it makes me practical. Just because I don’t believe that war should be the first option doesn’t mean that I believe it should never be an option. And, just because I don’t want the government looking into my, or any American’s, bedroom doesn’t mean that I want them looking in my gun case either. I can feel that personal liberties are supreme at the same time that I can say that the public good is more important than the ideas or ideals of any one man or woman.
I am not ashamed to be a moderate Democrat. I can stand your criticism. Call me what you like: “sissy,” “pushover,” or “she-man.” It makes no difference. Know why? Because the largest section of eligible voters in America agrees with me. So go ahead, tell me I’m wrong. Tell me I’m crazy. Because, at the end of the day, it’s going to be politicians like Chris Murphy, Paul Hackett, Chris Shays, and John McCain that do the greatest things for this country because they refuse to participate in the lie that those who don’t see eye to eye with you are wrong. They refuse to be told by anyone other than their constituents what is good and bad. They know where they stand and, though they often stand alone, they know, like Barack Obama, that American’s “worship and ‘awesome god’ in the blue states” and that they “don’t like federal agents poking around their libraries in the red states.”
So why do both parties continue to put forth candidates that are shifting farther and farther to the ideological extremes? Moderates are being marginalized. We are being squeezed out by the arrogance of Ann Coulter and the ranting of Michael Moore. Someday though. Someday there will be a candidate who will stand up and say, “Stop. Enough is enough. We need real reform and practical ideas. We need to introduce radical liberalism to actualities of reality and we need to show the reactionary right the way to the door to the land of differing opinions.” Whoever is able to do this: to be passionate without being alarmist, to strive towards a brighter future without being naive, and to embrace a politics of change and innovation without abandonment will have a very successful career on Pennsylvania Avenue. So, does anyone need a job?
