Are you a moderate or Independent? There is a good chance that you are. According to a Harris poll taken in 2020, 36 percent of Americans consider their ideological views conservative, 35 percent consider them moderate, and 25 percent consider them liberal.
Meanwhile, according to a recent Gallup poll, only 28 percent of Americans consider themselves Democrats, 24 percent consider themselves Republicans, but 46 percent consider themselves Independents, nearly half of the people in our country. Even though Independents are a mixture of conservatives, moderates, and liberals, the vast majority likely lean towards the center of the ideological spectrum.
The number of Independents in our country is near an all-time high because people are so unhappy with the direction that our two major political parties are taking the U.S. Moderates, moderate conservatives, and moderate liberals have little to no say in how our country is being run. This is unfortunate because we make decisions based on facts and science-based logic and because of this, we do things that make sense. We believe in balance, moderation, and are open to all options.
Based on public opinion polls, here is what moderates would accomplish if they had a say in how our government was run:
- Strengthen the economy and bring back the middle class by ensuring companies invest in growth and that the benefits of automation and Artificial Intelligence are realized by all, not just the shareholders. Moderates would ensure that we start producing things in this country again.
- Improving and reducing the cost of health care in the U.S. by 50%. This would be accomplished by doing what every other first world western country is already doing.
- Reversing climate change by imposing stricter efficiency standards and speeding up alternate energy development and implementation, with climate initiatives to be paid for by the wealthy and fuel-burning companies.
- Increasing personal responsibility to reduce the number of Americans dependent on the government for financial aid, reducing government waste, and increasing taxes on the wealthy in order to reduce the national debt in a balanced way.
- Returning the government to the American people so that we start implementing the will of the majority of Americans again, rather than the will of whichever party is in power. This is how a democracy is supposed to work. It would be accomplished by fixing our corrupt political system and forming a third major centrist political party.
Moderates and Independents need to take back their share of our country. After all, the Founding Fathers were moderates and our country has thrived as a moderate democracy for over 240 years. But the U.S. is now being pushed towards extremism. Based on recent polling data, over 60 percent of Americans and over 70 percent of millennials agree that we need a third major centrist political party. We need a party to represent moderate conservatives, moderate liberals, the middle class, and millennials with specific policy goals.
Such a party is coming. Hopefully we are not too late.