Where are the radical centrists?

In his column analyzing Tuesday's primary election results David Brooks tells the story of a thirty-something fictional voter called Ben. Ben has worked hard and played by the rules -- "he labored when others didn’t. At work, he sacrificed when others didn’t. He bought a house he could afford when others didn’t." Ben looks around and sees his taxes going to bail out big banks and consumers who didn't play by the rules or act wisely. He sees no connection anymore between effort and reward. But Ben is turned off by the bombast and paranoia of the tea party right. In short, neither the political left or right speaks for Ben. What to do?

So when Ben looked around for leaders who might understand his outrage, he only found them among the ideological hard-liners. In Arkansas, he saw a MoveOn candidate, Bill Halter, crusading against the bailouts and the spoils culture. On the right, he saw the Tea Party candidate Rand Paul crusading against runaway spending and debt.

Ben wasn’t naturally an extremist sort of guy. He didn’t live his life for politics or go in for the over-the-top stuff he heard on talk radio. But he did have some sense that the American work ethic was being threatened by debt and decadence.

It was going to take spit and vinegar to turn things around. So he voted for one of the outsiders. This is not time for a tinkerer, he figured. It’s time for a demolition man.

In a few years’ time, Ben is going to be disappointed again. He’s going to find that the outsiders he sent to Washington just screamed at each other at ever higher decibels. He’s going to find that he and voters like him unwittingly created a political culture in which compromise is impermissible, in which institutions are decimated by lone-wolf narcissists who have no interest in or talent for crafting legislation. Nothing will get done.

In a few years’ time, Ben is going to look for something else. It will be interesting to see if, by that time, any moderates have had the foresight and energy to revive and define the free labor tradition — a tradition that uses government to encourage work, to reward work, and to uphold the values at the core of Ben’s life.

I can relate. The details of my bio are different, but like Ben I see my family falling further and further behind due to stagnant wages, the real estate crash which hit our neighborhood extra hard, and huge jumps in healthcare costs the last few years. Things that many of my peers take for granted -- such as good schools for their kids, and saving for college -- seem increasingly out of reach. Don't get me wrong -- each day reminds me that I'm extraordinarily blessed, but like Brooks' angry voter my frustration is building.