Mine eyes have seen the glory of the art of compromise!
All the partisans were bickering, but now they're getting wise.
Tired of the bloody noses, weary of the blackened eyes:
The Center is Reborn!
Ahh, if only it were more than a song parody. But sad news from beleaguered Wisconsin points up the problem with moderation these days: No good songs.
State Senator Tim Cullen (D-Janesville) has withdrawn his candidacy to oppose Governor Scott Walker in the upcoming recall election. As John Nichols reports in the Madison Capitol Times newspaper, the moderate Democrat had raised only $26,299 for his campaign, while Walker's latest campaign finance disclosure showed $12 million raised (several million from out of state sources), with $10 million already spent to defend his office.
Cullen is widely regarded as a very capable statesperson, a very able leader, and a friend to organized labor. Yet few rallied to his cause, and fewer yet seemed to have brought their wallets.
Why not? It was Steve Martin who pointed out that "Atheists Ain't Got No Songs!". The same may be said for Moderates.
We have become accustomed (addicted) to shouting "Fight!" and "No!"; "Compromise!" and "Moderation!" just don't have that "rallying cry" ring to it.
The phrase that pays these days is "Energize the Base". The base for a centrist or moderate has yet to be regenerated, although it once existed. But the song that is sung these days to energize the base buggers the Queen anthem up and down: "We Are the Victims!"
Unfortunately, the human tendency when one has been losing for a while is to want to WIN, not to seek the best outcome. Victims eventually retaliate, and both the right and the left have talked themselves into believing they are the real victim here.
And until we get past that, we will never find the functional center.
Unless, perhaps, we get a few good songs going. Anybody want to write the second verse?