EDITORIAL: Friday Give the American people what they want — pragmatism

Sept. 29--America, by and large, governs from the center. That historic fact explains today's gridlock because nothing can be done when extremists refuse to compromise.

Author David Brown examines this centrist preference in his book, "Moderates: The Vital Center of American Politics, from the Founding to Today."

It once was considered respectable to make deals in America, Brown contends.

It started with the founding.

The Founders needed to add 10 amendments to the Constitution that protected individual rights in order to gain enough public support to create a stronger federal government than the weak version of the Articles of Confederation.

The story of slavery was nothing but compromise, beginning with giving slave states extraordinary power in the federal government by granting slaves as 3/5 of a person for purposes of representation. A series of compromises regarding slavery ensued including an attempt just before the Civil War.

The Democratic Party of the pre-Civil War era broke apart into Northern and Southern factions. The Whig Party that Lincoln first joined faded.

But Lincoln managed to keep the Republican Party from splitting into factions as well.

"A pragmatist, he responded alertly to rapidly changing circumstances," Brown wrote.

He also understood the economic tensions between capital and labor and stated that labor must be given priority.

President Theodore Roosevelt was a pragmatist as well, noting that keeping a balance between corporate power and the working class helped everyone.

America was going through a stressful change from an agricultural system to an industrial one, and Roosevelt saw that pressures being felt by working men.

He supported unemployment insurance, social security and national health care.

"Somehow or other we shall have to work out methods of controlling the big corporations without paralyzing the energies of the business community and of preventing any tyranny on the part of labor unions while cordially assisting in every proper effort made by the wage workers to better themselves by combinations," Roosevelt said.

In modern times, President Ronald Reagan compromised so often he probably couldn't be nominated today. He signed into law that provided amnesties for immigrants. He signed a tax reform bill that increased corporate taxes and eliminated deductions. National debt skyrocketed. His nominee to the Supreme Court, Sandra Day O'Connor, supported abortion rights.

The greatest moderate, the pragmatist Abraham Lincoln is vilified even today for not hewing to various ideologies.

Lincoln straddled the fence over slavery, seeking to restrain it from spreading initially. That wasn't good enough for abolitionists but the South understood that if slavery could not spread it would die a slow death.

From Lincoln, the Republican Party dominated American politics until Theodore Roosevelt left office.

"The Square Deal" of Roosevelt sought to restrain the excesses of corporations and empower the working class.

The Great Depression led to a Democratic Party domination until the party lost is centrist bearings in the 1960s. The Democratic Party lost five of six elections between 1968 and 1988 to overly liberal policies.

President Richard Nixon, despite his character flaws, governed from the center. He supported national health care and founded the Environmental Protection Agency.

Brown writes that moderate politics has been a "saving grace." Governing from extremes simply won't work for long.

Reagan, despite his rhetoric, kept most New Deal programs intact. And Bill Clinton, a Democrat, won two elections because he ran as a "third way" Democrat from the center. Ending "welfare as we know it" was that third way, making welfare a second chance and not a way of life.

"We need a smaller, more effective, more efficient, less bureaucratic government that reflects our time-honored values" Clinton said. While he was not disparaging government like Reagan he certainly wasn't glorifying it like Lyndon Johnson.

Moderation -- that's where most of the people are.

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