Op-Ed: Unmuting the Middle
Originally published April 4, 2023 in Charlotte Observer, News and Observer, Durham Herald, and Yahoo Sports Canada as “Extremists Have Hijacked Politics and They’re Silencing Moderates Like Me.”
For years, I’ve been dreaming of a boring version of American politics — a public sphere that feels less like March Madness or cage fighting and more like a committee meeting.
There are at least a few national politicians pressing for the same thing, and hoping that an overlooked majority of centrist voters can help make it happen.
In a February forum organized by the Carolina Partnership for Reform in Raleigh, former U.S. Sen. Ben Sasse argued that American public life is being hijacked by extremists who treat politics as 24/7 blood sport, silencing disenchanted moderates who value compromise and are turned off by the national shouting match.
“Seventy percent of Americans want nothing to do with politics,” Sasse said. “The addicts are forcing everyone else to disengage.” Which polarizes the debate even further.
According to Gallup, the percentage of people who call themselves “independents” nationally has been trending up since 2004, peaking at 50% in January 2022 and now sitting at 44%. Unaffiliated voters are now the largest group in North Carolina, outnumbering Democrats and Republicans.
Those who study independent voters find most “lean” toward one of the major parties, meaning they vote consistently for either Democrats or Republicans. But that doesn’t mean they’re enthusiastic about it. A poll by Third Way last November suggests a majority of voters are disenchanted by the governing philosophy of the major parties: 55% described Democrats who were running as “too extreme” and 54% described Republicans the same way.
At a meeting hosted by the Institute for Emerging Issues at N.C. State University on March 20, outgoing Massachusetts Gov. Charlie Baker suggested a path back from that mutually-reinforcing extremism. Baker was the Republican leader of a left-leaning state, finishing his eight years in office as one of the most popular governors, a high-wire act you can’t accomplish as a rabid partisan.
“The majority of Americans are either center left or center right, and they are ignored,” Baker told an audience of state policymakers and university officials.
What most people really want is for government to accomplish the basic tasks that make a difference in everyday life. Call us “the muted middle.” We’re not interested in politics-as-entertainment, Baker said, but in simple competence.
“In this day and age, boring is not necessarily a bad thing,” says Baker. He lays out that case in a new book titled “Results: Getting Beyond Politics to Get Important Work Done.” Coauthored with Baker’s former chief of staff, a lifelong Democrat named Steve Kadish, the book argues that political leaders can win back disenchanted moderates by improving government services — doing the tough, unglamorous work of shortening lines at the DMV, delivering broadband to rural areas, and providing effective treatment for opioid addiction.
Instead of wasting energy on symbolic media battles — owning the libs, dunking on conservatives, etc. — you treat government like a critical enterprise. Hire low-key, dedicated people to tackle big problems, build trust through open communication, and measure results in a transparent way so that people see progress or see the need for course correction.
“Getting stuff done,” in Baker’s telling, is a unifying mantra. It’s also an agenda that appeals to frustrated centrists.
“The most difficult thing is just trying to keep your balance in the middle of all the yelling and screaming,” Baker said. “But we all have people to serve and problems to solve.”
That sounds like what we used to call “good government.” But are there enough moderate voters willing to “unmute” to demand progress? And if so, could we find candidates who prefer listening over shouting, governing over gotcha? They’d have my vote.
Leslie Boney is a writer in Raleigh, with a past career in teaching, journalism, politics, nonprofits and higher education.