Democrats should stop chasing the 'sensible centrists'

[FiveGoodMen]

9. Centrism is an idiotic approach in any era

If you basically say, "I'm going to agree with the average opinion," then you needn't participate at all. If you really manage to vote with the average of others then you won't sway anything.

Try this: pick a few numbers and calculate their average value.

Now, put that average value at the end of the list -- as many times as you like -- and average the new list...

Notice anything?

More to the point, however, is that if you just try to sit in the middle of everyone else's views then you have no moral compass or useful points of your own. And the more the country moves to the right, the more such self-defined centrists will move to the right (just half as fast).

It's entirely possible that someone looks at all the data, chooses what they think is the best set of values and finds themselves to be a centrist-by-coincidence. That's different from defining yourself that way in the first place.

Even then, if we want to sway such voters, we need to appeal to their sense of decency, fairness, and justice.