"The Middle"

Ron Radosh addresses the issue raised by David Frum and William Galson who want to form a “No Labels” party. This would be a party that is neither as far Left as the Democrats or as far Right as the Republicans. This is not only a strange conceit on the part of Galson and Frum, but points out the fact that, for a lot of people like them in this country, we are not a nation in crisis.

To address the issue of the essential un-seriousness of Frum and Galson, you only have to imagine that two people who most of the nation has never heard of and whose pronouncements don’t particularly resonate are about to start a mass movement. Neither Frum or Galson resemble Abraham Lincoln who led the most important political realignment, nor FDR who led the last great American mass movement. They are simply editorial writers whose adherents number in the hundreds. The other factors that made mass movements possible were issues of great moral import like slavery or economic factors – the Great Depression – that caused the average American to fear for his personal well-being. That latter factor may be present today, but only as a shadow of its predecessor in the 1930s before the creation of the social safety net and the welfare state. A final point regarding these mass movements: they were not attempts to find a middle ground; they were radical. A civil war is fought by people who are passionate to the extent of killing the opposition. The FDR era was a time - globally - which fostered the most extreme national leaders who fostered cults of personality; and if you doubt the extent to which this applied to FDR, you’re no student of history.

These two, Frum and Galson, are simply trying to sell their columns. America is undergoing an upheaval engendered by an economic crisis that is making many people gloomy about their future and that of their children. This situation may lead to an new leader. Obama promised to be just such a leader, described my some as literally a Messiah.  But he has disappointed his followers while energizing his opponents. Another charismatic leader – Sarah Palin – has emerged, almost by accident. Loved by her supporters, loathed by her enemies, there is no one else currently on the national stage - other than Obama - who has shown the ability to lead a mass movement. Meanwhile out in the street, in flyover country, that mass movement is coalescing around the banner of the Tea Party which is not a party and has no national leader.

Frum and Galson are irrelevant. Sloppy middles of the kind they envision are not the province of political transformations. Watch what happens to “The Middle,” not just the name of a popular TV show, but also where most of the people in the country are. See who they will follow.