Books and newspaper columns talk of an “insurgency of the rational” and of the “sane, pragmatic majority” taking charge. A political action committee founded by New York’s mayor, Michael Bloomberg, plans to spend millions backing moderates and independents in state and federal elections, with a nicely balanced focus on promoting gun control (angering the right) and school reform (which makes teachers’ unions seethe). The Common Sense Coalition, set up by entrepreneurs and fund managers, wants an online “Army of Moderates” to lobby candidates and elected officials. Mark Zuckerberg, founder of Facebook, is said to be poised to launch a group pushing education and immigration reforms, using Republican and Democratic strategists.

The same arguments are cited, repeatedly, to explain why the time is ripe for a centrist insurgency. First, Americans are fed up with both big parties, especially in Congress, a body with an 11% approval rating in one recent poll. Self-styled “independents” account for up to 40% of the electorate by some measures. Finally, great faith is put in the power of technology to help new groups out-organise and out-campaign incumbent party machines, like small furry mammals scampering beneath dinosaur feet….

The White House was the wrong goal, argues “The Centrist Manifesto”, a new book with a different plan to sell. The book’s author, Charles Wheelan, a teacher at Dartmouth College (and former Economist journalist), argues that a Centrist Party should focus on the Senate, aiming to win just four or five seats in moderate states. Thanks to quirks of Senate arithmetic, a handful of centrists could hold the balance of power. The moderate start-ups [those starting these organizations] tend to be fiscally conservative but socially liberal, keen on free trade and free markets, worried about social mobility and open to immigration. Some talk of curbing campaign spending and involving more ordinary voters in primaries that select candidates.

source: Lexington: Knowing best is not enough | The Economist.

And here I thought I was the only one who was fiscally conservative but socially liberal! This seems like an organization tailor-made for me and I am hoping for some of you. Take a look at the Economist article by clicking the source line above. I love the cartoon! It is exactly how I feel. As a matter of fact the guy on the plow looks kind of nerdy like me. Why can’t saner heads rule in this country and the sooner the better.

I already have my “Centrist Manifesto” loaded on my Kindle so you can expect some words about it soon.  This is an organization the I can finally relate to.

I ran across this idea on a blog entitled Jeremiah On America.  I imagine it will now be part of my daily reads. Here are a few words from him:

 This is all very exciting.  Perhaps the most promising development is that fifty-nine members of Congress have joined a bipartisan group called No Labels.  We are restraining our optimism.  We know how the parties treat collaborators.