Why Centrist Candidates Can’t Cut It This Century
The Fruitless Center
Have you noticed that politics keep getting more and more divided? The Democratic and Republican parties have grown farther apart in their ability to work together on key issues.
Republicans have moved further to the right, with the Republican establishment losing control of its own party to the ultra-right wing Tea Party conservatives. At the same time, moderate Democrats have had to grant concessions to leftist Progressive personalities and movements.
We’ve been wondering what exactly is going on in American politics. What has been causing each party’s base to become so unresponsive to centrist candidates? More importantly, will this new voter sentiment have long-term …show more content…
Political analysts have long known about the tactics candidates use on the public, such as the general election bait and switch.
Candidates’ platforms typically lean far to the left or right during the primaries when they are trying to gain their parties’ nomination. This is because they only need to get voters from their own parties to support them.
Once the nomination is clinched, the candidates begin to gradually inch to the political center. Common knowledge says they do this to gain a wider selection of independent voters in the center. But what if there are few voting independents in the center to snag?
That exactly what new ideological consistency research suggests. Every year voters become more and more solidified in their partisan political views, moving further from the political center rather than towards it.
So not only are the Democratic and Republican Parties more ideologically divided than they have ever been, but the voting public reflects this division as well. This means there is little incentive or reward for a candidate to ever move back towards the center. There aren’t any constituents there to listen or vote!
The Extremely Engaged
The Fruitless Center
Have you noticed that politics keep getting more and more divided? The Democratic and Republican parties have grown farther apart in their ability to work together on key issues.
Republicans have moved further to the right, with the Republican establishment losing control of its own party to the ultra-right wing Tea Party conservatives. At the same time, moderate Democrats have had to grant concessions to leftist Progressive personalities and movements.
We’ve been wondering what exactly is going on in American politics. What has been causing each party’s base to become so unresponsive to centrist candidates? More importantly, will this new voter sentiment have long-term …show more content…
Political analysts have long known about the tactics candidates use on the public, such as the general election bait and switch.
Candidates’ platforms typically lean far to the left or right during the primaries when they are trying to gain their parties’ nomination. This is because they only need to get voters from their own parties to support them.
Once the nomination is clinched, the candidates begin to gradually inch to the political center. Common knowledge says they do this to gain a wider selection of independent voters in the center. But what if there are few voting independents in the center to snag?
That exactly what new ideological consistency research suggests. Every year voters become more and more solidified in their partisan political views, moving further from the political center rather than towards it.
So not only are the Democratic and Republican Parties more ideologically divided than they have ever been, but the voting public reflects this division as well. This means there is little incentive or reward for a candidate to ever move back towards the center. There aren’t any constituents there to listen or vote!
The Extremely Engaged