Musings from a Moderate Midwestern Democrat
Not Alone
Given the current political climate this country seems to be in, and is barreling towards an election where there will be a sizable portion of this country who believe that a man who has quoted the Nazis, multiple times gone on about a fictional serial killer as a potential voter, as well as facing multiple criminal indictments for a wide variety of crimes should be the next President of the United States of America.
However, for a lot of people out there, there needs to be a reset function or a mode that needs to click for some. The large variety of voters we see, we lump into groups, and think “If you vote for Joe Biden, you support the “Woke Agenda” and other things that AOC and her ilk support!”
Same with Donald Trump, that lumping in his entire base as deplorable and irredeemable is not just a horrid way to focus on this country.
A lot of votes behind the 2020 election were of people who vote because that is what their family voted, and will continue to vote for, no matter what, a family party, and that is what they stick with, and they are perfectly fine individuals. They are families, people trying to live their lives and not trying to focus on politics. They aren't “putting blinders on”, they aren't misguided, they just want to move on.
Then, however, we have a massively growing sect of our country with narrowing and narrowing perspective in this country. The Moderate.
Moderates are not roadblocks. They are fastly becoming a major part of this country's political base, someone who truly is leaning in one direction but does believe the other party has good ideas that deserve to be debated. Debate. A rare thing today in a polarized country. We need more moderates in our local, state, and federal government, not just to cool heads, but to return to debating and making compromises that will better this country in the long run.
That does not mean we can't take a drastic action from time to time. Student Loan forgiveness is necessary to push an entire generation into the work force unimpeded by the weight of their colleges seeking nothing more but to continue and drain vital resources for the economy. Border security is necessary, but that doesn't mean we should give everything to Texas and watch them fight with the federal government over things like treating people who come to this country for a better life some respect. These are drastic and yet achievable goals, Goals that can be argued and reached to a compromise on how we can move forward.
Politics should never be a yes or no answer. We shouldn't risk starting fist fights on the house floor, because one representative didn't like something, so she rules it's time to riot and throw out the entire leadership all because they did their job. They led. They governed.
We must move forward, not backward.