The radical center

Thers does a nice job tearing apart the whole "why can't we all get along" meme here:

Via Jim Henley, one of the most annoying things ever printed in any newspaper ever:

So who are these angry voters? I call them "restless and anxious moderates," or RAMs. Most come from the third of the electorate that identifies itself as independent, but some Democrats and Republicans have also joined this new bloc. These voters tend to be practical, non-ideological and unabashedly results-oriented -- people such as Gary Butler, 60, who lives in Show Low, Ariz. Both parties, he says, "are way too far apart, and nobody is looking out for the good of the people."

"Address my life and the problems I face in my terms," another RAM told me. "Cut political rhetoric, cut political fighting, cut the game-playing, stop the five-point programs; just address my issues in a real-world, straightforward way."

You might think that the emergence of a potentially decisive bloc of disaffected voters would seize the attention of the two major parties. But they've been strangely oblivious to the RAMs' prodding.

I think the reason they have been "oblivious" to this "bloc of voters" is that this "bloc of voters" doesn't actually fucking exist. People don't blame both parties equally for the current shit state of affairs that is our nation right now. They blame the Republicans for fucking things up and they blame the Democrats for not doing a damn thing to stop them. RAM that up your ass.

Now, in fairness, there actually is some sort of legitimate issue here. There actually are moderate voters out there who are increasingly having a hard time finding elected officials who represent them. Elected Democrats are becoming more liberal; elected Republicans are becoming more conservative. But the idea that elected officials could "cut political rhetoric, cut political fighting, cut the game-playing, stop the five-point programs; just address my issues in a real-world, straightforward way" is pretty silly. Addressing issues inevitably requires making choices, some of which you'll agree with and some of which will make your blood boil. There's no correct, nonpartisan way to manage an economy or provide health care coverage or build a bridge. People have different approaches to governing, and often those differences will fall along party lines.

Voters get to choose which party overall is more competent, but they really do have to choose if they want to vote, and they're not served well by articles like the one mentioned above.