I'm a centrist. And it has nothing to do with my political views [View all]

When I say I'm a centrist I don't mean that we can find the truth by averaging various points-of-view: we can't find the truth that way

And I don't mean that I expect most Americans will necessarily agree with my beliefs or that I will change my beliefs to coincide with those of the majority: it's important to be principled

What I mean is that I believe the proper way forward in a democracy is to continually redefine the political center -- which is a set of objectives most people can agree on: this is a dynamic concept

This center has changed during my lifetime, and it can continue to change -- if we do what needs doing

When I was born, a lot of Americans still supported segregation, and racism was socially acceptable: those ugly views persist, of course, but they are not longer part of the political center

Changing the political center is hard, ongoing work; it requires both activist outsiders and establishment insiders; it requires constant pragmatic compromises; and it requires long-term dedication to the notions that the center is not static and that we have a continuing obligation to re-define the center

This sometimes means cooperating with people who don't agree with you on everything. Sometimes it means educating yourself and others. Sometimes it means listening and sometimes it means persuading.

Think of where you want us to be. Study the obstacles. Don't be an inflexible ideologue and don't let your ideas shift freely with the wind. Push or pull to move us a bit in that direction. It will be a bumpy road sometimes; and we don't always win immediately. Pick your battles intelligently. Cynicism and despair don't help. Neither does self-centered opportunism.