My Party Too

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One of President George W Bush's former cabinet officials has criticised his record and his electoral strategy, accusing him of running a short-term policy which will damage the Republicans in the future. . .

In a new book, It's My Party too: the battle for the heart of the GOP [Grand Old Party, the nickname for the Republican Party] and the Future of America, she escribes regular battles with "extreme anti-government ideologues".

California Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger also recently suggested that the Republican Party should move "a little to the left," a shift that he said would allow it to pick up new voters.

If Whitman and Schwarzenegger represented the heart and soul of the Republican party, I would be a Republican. Conversely, if Lieberman and Biden represented the heart and soul of the Democratic party, I would be a Democrat.

Independents like me make up approximately 30 percent of the electorate. Bush narrowly won the independent vote in 2000, but Kerry narrowly won the independent vote in 2004. The way for the Democrats to get back to the White House is to continue to gain among independents, which means a move to the center. The way for the Republicans to stop that from happening is to stake an equal claim to the center.

The bottom line is that centrism may be ascendant in the next four years. Here is to hoping, anyway.