Monday, November 13, 2023

 


Joe Manchin III is leaving the U.S. Senate to go on a journey. The West Virginia Democrat says he’s looking forward to “traveling the country and speaking out to see if there is an interest in creating a movement to mobilize the middle.”

There’s nothing like a good road trip, but fruitful expeditions require a sense of where you’re going. Manchin should think hard about where to find “the middle” in our politics right now.

Some hints: It’s not the midpoint between a center-left Democratic Party and an increasingly right-wing Republican Party. Nor will he find mathematically ideal forms of moderation by splitting the difference between a moderately progressive president dedicated to democracy and a much-indicted extremist given to saying kind things about dictators.


E.J. Dionne, Jr. in the WaPost

No comments: