The Moderate Party To Come

Watching Morning Joe this morning Maine Senator Olympia Snowe was a guest. Discussing her reasons for leaving the Senate nothing she said was surprising. Agreement between her and Joe Scarborough was to be expected and was forthcoming. What was more unexpected was the lovefest of agreement between Senator Snowe and Mike Barnicle.

Barnicle, the former Boston Globe colulmnist is certainly a liberal, perhaps not a Massachussts Kennedy liberal but certainly a liberal. What he and Senator Snowe agreed on was that nothing is being done in the Senate and that they system is broken.

Snowe talked about how Senators are miserable, being forced to spend too much time fundraising and, in her case, wondering why she was working so hard to retain a Senate Seat from which she was able to accomplish so little. Barnicle talked about how in his youth, his generation, to be a United States Senator was an incredible goal. Senators were to be respected, they were men to be admired. In today's environment Senators are rarely respected and often not deserving of admiration.

You could make an All Star team of Senators who have left the Senate in recent years. Jim Jeffords in Vermont, Arlen Spector in Pennsylvania, Jim Webb in Virginia, the aforementioned Olympia Snowe in Maine, and Dick Lugar in Indiana have all failed to win reelection or decided that it was just not worth it.

It is not just the Republicans who are discarding these fine public servants. Democrats do the same thing. There are examples on both sides that should make those on the left and the right wonder about the direction their parties are going.

Ben Nelson the moderate Democrat, he should have been listed above, has also chosen not to seek reelection in Nebraska. Speaking of Nebraska, another recent Senate refugee Chuck Hagel could join the team mentioned above. With Nebraska being a strongly red state Democrats were struggling to find a candidate in an attempt to retain Nelson's seat. With considerable prodding former Nebraska Governor and Senator, as well as former Presidential candidate, Bob Kerrey entered the race and will be the Democratic nominee for Senate. It is not expected that he will win. It was a generation ago that Kerrey was a political force in Nebraska. The state now is one of the most Conservative in the nation. Bob Kerrey running was not his pursuit of his dream. Bob Kerrey does need to be a Senator again for his legacy and he did not enter the race expecting to win. He as much as anyone knows the realities of his efforts and chance for success.

For this reason Kerrey should be admired and respected. So what occured directly after his choice to enter the race, liberal blogs around the country attacked Kerrey and his positions for being too Conservative. On the surface it was ridiculous.

Why would anyone submit himself to this if he is to be attacked by the liberal left?

Mirroring this is what is occurring in Utah right now. Orrin Hatch the longtime Conservative Senator from Utah did not win the Republican nomination for Senate at the state convention. Because he did not win sixty percent of the vote he now will face a runoff primary. While it is assumed that Hatch will win the mere fact that he even faces a challenge from a substantial segment of his party for being NOT Conservative enough is ludicrous.

When what is happening in Utah to Hatch and in Utah to Kerrey occurs it becomes clearer and clearer that the vast portion of Americans are not served by either party.

Sooner or later the middle needs to get involved. When they do they must get involved in the Center. Perhaps they need to bring some of these respected men back to the forefront of their efforts.

Very soon, very soon indeed the roster of talent discarded in the middle by the kooks from the left and the right will be enough to start a party that might well be the party that saves this country.

We can only hope.