Defining Centrism and Its Performance

If you pay attention to political commentary, you’ll often hear a few pieces of conventional wisdom:

— America is “too polarized”

— “Both sides” are “too extreme”

— Or, most innocuously, that politicians should simply do that which is “popular,” which is itself code for policies that are considered “moderate”

But do voters really punish candidates for being extreme? Are most “popular” ideas the “moderate” ones? And, moderate or not, does popularity necessarily indicate merit?

The supposed antidote to this handwringing about political polarization is, more often than not, the mythical “centrist” candidate who will appeal to the even-more-mythical “ordinary American.” Centrism is, as the name implies, an ideology that lacks an ideology.

Today, Diabolical Lies investigates the myth of centrism.

[Full references and citations can be found in the show notes at www.diabolicalliespod.com.]