{"id":3335,"date":"2019-07-23T16:03:58","date_gmt":"2019-07-23T20:03:58","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.musingsbymichael.com\/blog\/?p=3335"},"modified":"2019-07-23T16:03:58","modified_gmt":"2019-07-23T20:03:58","slug":"totally-politically-polarized","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"http:\/\/www.musingsbymichael.com\/blog\/2019\/07\/23\/totally-politically-polarized\/","title":{"rendered":"Totally Politically Polarized"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"The<\/a><\/p>\n

Our country is totally polarized politically and that is a very bad thing to have happen. The television networks and those newspapers that are left, have convinced the American public that there is only the Left (Progressives) and the Right (Conservatives). That is patently not true, there is a large portion that are Moderates. We Moderates comprise a much larger part of the political universe than people think.<\/span><\/p>\n

From the Washington Monthly<\/a>, \u201c\u201cModerate\u201d voters are one of the most misunderstood blocs of the electorate. While they have historically comprised a plurality of American voters \u2013 41 percent of voters in 2012<\/a>\u00a0and 44 percent in 2008<\/a>\u00a0 \u2013 moderates are not nearly as monolithic as liberals or conservatives in their ideology or their voting behavior.<\/i>\u201d And yet we are ignored by both the Republicans and the Democrats.<\/span><\/p>\n

Furthermore, \u201cMathematically, the only way a party can win is to woo enough moderates to tip the scales at 50.1 percent. Depending on the share of moderates in any given state, this often means that candidates need to win a majority of moderates as well as turn out their base. Indeed, one analysis<\/a> found that in 16 of 21 Senate battleground states in 2010, Democratic candidates who matched the party\u2019s 2008 performance with liberals would still have needed a super-majority of moderates to claim victory in that state.<\/i>\u201d So for a candidate to win from either party they need the Moderate vote and yet the Republicans are leaning more right and the Democrats are leaning more left.<\/span><\/p>\n

From Real Clear Politics<\/a>, \u201cFormer New York City mayor and ideological moderate Michael Bloomberg<\/a> last week said he didn\u2019t enter the Democratic presidential primary because \u201cI was [not] willing to change all my views and go on what CNN called an \u2018apology tour.\u2019\u201d His fellow billionaire and former Starbucks CEO Howard Schultz<\/a> has left the Democratic Party to explore an independent presidential bid because it has moved too \u201cfar left\u201d by calling for \u201cthe government to take over health care \u2026 the government to give free college to everybody, and the government to give everyone a job. \u2026 We can\u2019t afford it.\u201d<\/i>\u201d So even those Democrats (who are Moderates) that have a great deal of money think that their party has moved too far to the left. The Progressive agenda is just unrealistic and the Conservatives are no better.<\/span><\/p>\n

Right now I personally think that this country is teetering on the edge of a political cliff that could end in disaster if we continue down the crazy political path that the two polar opposite parties have created.<\/span><\/p>\n

We must pull back before it is too late and the damage is done, for if we do not then this country will suffer economic collapse or even worse our society could implode.<\/span><\/p>\n

It is time to realize that we must move towards the center and be more moderate, rather than more radicalized.<\/span><\/p>\n

That is my opinion- Jumpin Jersey Mike<\/span><\/p>\n