# I am a proud middle of the roader and damn proud of it **URL:** \ **Category:** Politics & Elections\ **Created:** [November 12, 2019, 4:44am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-am-a-proud-middle-of-the-roader-and-damn-proud-of-it/843316 "2019-11-12T04:44:12Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 5
**Author:** ![iiandyiiii](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/iiandyiiii/32/7924_2.png) [@iiandyiiii](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/iiandyiiii)\ **Post date:** [November 12, 2019, 9:36pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-am-a-proud-middle-of-the-roader-and-damn-proud-of-it/843316/81 "2019-11-12T21:36:06Z")
> [@Yankees\_1996\_Champs](#): > > Yes. > > I believe that Trump gives white people a bad name. Steve Bannon gives white people a bad name. Seems pretty silly to extrapolate the actions of a single person to reflect on hundreds of millions based only on a superficial characteristic. ---
**Author:** ![Yankees\_1996\_Champs](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/y/5f8ce5/32.png) [@Yankees\_1996\_Champs](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Yankees_1996_Champs)\ **Post date:** [November 12, 2019, 9:36pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-am-a-proud-middle-of-the-roader-and-damn-proud-of-it/843316/82 "2019-11-12T21:36:54Z")
> [@Telemark](#): > > Exactly which road are you in the middle of? Immigration reform. America cannot have open borders, but a pathway to citizenship. Teach them to be Americans, have the values of Americans. ---
**Author:** ![QuickSilver](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/quicksilver/32/7832_2.png) [@QuickSilver](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/QuickSilver)\ **Post date:** [November 12, 2019, 9:38pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-am-a-proud-middle-of-the-roader-and-damn-proud-of-it/843316/83 "2019-11-12T21:38:34Z")
> [@HurricaneDitka](#): > > I think you’ve got it backwards. CNN had pollsters standing outside of polling locations, polling people as they exited. 36% of the voters said they were Democrats, and of those 36%, 89% said they voted for Clinton, and 8% for President Trump. Likewise, on a separate question they asked about ideology, 26% of voters said they were liberals, and out of those liberal voters, 84% said they voted for Clinton and 10% for President Trump. In the same poll, 33% identified as Republicans and 8% of those voted for Clinton. Similarly, 35% identified as conservative and 16% of those voted for Clinton. Shall we negotiate a hostage exchange? ---
**Author:** ![bump](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/7c8e57/32.png) [@bump](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/bump)\ **Post date:** [November 12, 2019, 9:45pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-am-a-proud-middle-of-the-roader-and-damn-proud-of-it/843316/84 "2019-11-12T21:45:18Z")
> [@Kimstu](#): > > “I am a healthy privileged fortunate [member of the top 1% of global wealth](https://www.cnbc.com/2018/11/01/how-much-money-you-need-to-be-part-of-the-1-percent-worldwide.html) in an era of widespread severe social, economic and environmental crisis, and I demand to know why my preferred political party isn’t prioritizing policies to directly increase my already enviable advantages!” > > :rolleyes: :rolleyes: :rolleyes: It’s not so much that they’re not doing for me, but rather that they’re not doing for me, and they’re advocating policies that while ostensibly for me, are probably going to cost me a lot more, without a lot in the way of advantages versus the status quo. Again, the argument comes back to essentially trying to guilt me into “doing the right thing” or appealing to some sort of latent guilt for the sins of my fathers, if there’s not much in it for me. That’s not a very winning strategy for getting votes in the absence of a political tumor like Trump to work against. ---
**Author:** ![Yankees\_1996\_Champs](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/y/5f8ce5/32.png) [@Yankees\_1996\_Champs](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Yankees_1996_Champs)\ **Post date:** [November 12, 2019, 9:46pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-am-a-proud-middle-of-the-roader-and-damn-proud-of-it/843316/85 "2019-11-12T21:46:07Z")
> [@Left\_Hand\_of\_Dorkness](#): > > How exactly does that work? Does Trump also give people whose names start with D a bad name? Does he give a bad name to people currently living in DC, or to people who golf, or to people who use Twitter, or to people whose ancestors changed their surnames on immigrating to the United States? > > That entire “gives X group a bad name” is a foolish construct, doubly so when the X group isn’t chosen by any member of the group. > > And when that construct is used in a way that strengthens racist dynamics (e.g., in conjunction with the stereotype that black men are violent criminals), it’s racist. Brown is seen as a typical black millennial athlete that is too entitled. That is what I am trying to say. Let’s get back to the topic at hand: I am a proud middle of the roader. ---
**Author:** ![HurricaneDitka](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/96bed5/32.png) [@HurricaneDitka](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/HurricaneDitka)\ **Post date:** [November 12, 2019, 9:49pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-am-a-proud-middle-of-the-roader-and-damn-proud-of-it/843316/86 "2019-11-12T21:49:18Z")
> [@QuickSilver](#): > > In the same poll, 33% identified as Republicans and 8% of those voted for Clinton. Similarly, 35% identified as conservative and 16% of those voted for Clinton. > > Shall we negotiate a hostage exchange? LOL, perhaps. 🙂 ---
**Author:** ![AlsoNamedBort](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/alsonamedbort/32/3213_2.png) [@AlsoNamedBort](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/AlsoNamedBort)\ **Post date:** [November 12, 2019, 9:50pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-am-a-proud-middle-of-the-roader-and-damn-proud-of-it/843316/87 "2019-11-12T21:50:11Z")
> [@Yankees\_1996\_Champs](#): > > Immigration reform. > > America cannot have open borders, but a pathway to citizenship. Teach them to be Americans, have the values of Americans. Yep, that’s still a Democratic position. ---
**Author:** ![HurricaneDitka](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/96bed5/32.png) [@HurricaneDitka](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/HurricaneDitka)\ **Post date:** [November 12, 2019, 9:56pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-am-a-proud-middle-of-the-roader-and-damn-proud-of-it/843316/88 "2019-11-12T21:56:47Z")
> [@Yankees\_1996\_Champs](#): > > … Let’s get back to the topic at hand: > > I am a proud middle of the roader. Here are some politicians that are “middle of the road” / “centrist” IMHO: Joe Manchin Susan Collins Kyrsten Sinema Mitt Romney Tulsi Gabbard Lisa Murkowski People don’t really like them all that much. ---
**Author:** ![Yankees\_1996\_Champs](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/y/5f8ce5/32.png) [@Yankees\_1996\_Champs](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Yankees_1996_Champs)\ **Post date:** [November 12, 2019, 10:00pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-am-a-proud-middle-of-the-roader-and-damn-proud-of-it/843316/89 "2019-11-12T22:00:20Z")
> [@AlsoNamedBort](#): > > Yep, that’s still a Democratic position. Some Democrats want open borders such as AOC and Omar, and that is why I feel both parties have immigration all wrong. ---
**Author:** ![Yankees\_1996\_Champs](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/y/5f8ce5/32.png) [@Yankees\_1996\_Champs](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Yankees_1996_Champs)\ **Post date:** [November 12, 2019, 10:05pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-am-a-proud-middle-of-the-roader-and-damn-proud-of-it/843316/90 "2019-11-12T22:05:52Z")
> [@AlsoNamedBort](#): > > Yep, that’s still a Democratic position. Some Democrats want open borders such as AOC and Omar, and that is why I feel both parties have immigration all wrong. ---
**Author:** ![AlsoNamedBort](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/alsonamedbort/32/3213_2.png) [@AlsoNamedBort](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/AlsoNamedBort)\ **Post date:** [November 12, 2019, 10:07pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-am-a-proud-middle-of-the-roader-and-damn-proud-of-it/843316/91 "2019-11-12T22:07:03Z")
> [@Yankees\_1996\_Champs](#): > > Some Democrats want open borders such as AOC and Omar, and that is why I feel both parties have immigration all wrong. Neither party is a completely homogeneous unit. If they were we wouldn’t need congress. Just pick someone to represent each side and give them power based on total votes. Not agreeing with a few people out of a group of hundreds does not make you a centrist. ---
**Author:** ![Left\_Hand\_of\_Dorkness](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/left_hand_of_dorkness/32/7156_2.png) [@Left\_Hand\_of\_Dorkness](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Left_Hand_of_Dorkness)\ **Post date:** [November 12, 2019, 10:07pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-am-a-proud-middle-of-the-roader-and-damn-proud-of-it/843316/92 "2019-11-12T22:07:30Z")
> [@Yankees\_1996\_Champs](#): > > Brown is seen as a typical black millennial athlete that is too entitled. That is what I am trying to say. > Let’s get back to the topic at hand: > > I am a proud middle of the roader. You’ve not offered evidence to support that claim. And if you’re going to keep defending your racist assertion about Brown, expect it to continue being criticized: there’s nothing about Brown’s actions that reflect poorly on others with his racial identity, and by asserting otherwise, you’re perpetuating a harmful racist stereotype. The best thing for you to do would be to stop defending that assertion, because by no longer defending it, you’d no longer be helping to perpetuate it. ---
**Author:** ![Yankees\_1996\_Champs](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/y/5f8ce5/32.png) [@Yankees\_1996\_Champs](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Yankees_1996_Champs)\ **Post date:** [November 12, 2019, 10:08pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-am-a-proud-middle-of-the-roader-and-damn-proud-of-it/843316/93 "2019-11-12T22:08:41Z")
> [@HurricaneDitka](#): > > Here are some politicians that are “middle of the road” / “centrist” IMHO: > > Joe Manchin > Susan Collins > Kyrsten Sinema > Mitt Romney > Tulsi Gabbard > Lisa Murkowski > > People don’t really like them all that much. Because they don’t toe the party line. I don’t. I like them. I despise the parties. ---
**Author:** ![Yankees\_1996\_Champs](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/y/5f8ce5/32.png) [@Yankees\_1996\_Champs](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Yankees_1996_Champs)\ **Post date:** [November 12, 2019, 10:30pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-am-a-proud-middle-of-the-roader-and-damn-proud-of-it/843316/94 "2019-11-12T22:30:35Z")
> [@Left\_Hand\_of\_Dorkness](#): > > You’ve not offered evidence to support that claim. And if you’re going to keep defending your racist assertion about Brown, expect it to continue being criticized: there’s nothing about Brown’s actions that reflect poorly on others with his racial identity, and by asserting otherwise, you’re perpetuating a harmful racist stereotype. > > The best thing for you to do would be to stop defending that assertion, because by no longer defending it, you’d no longer be helping to perpetuate it. Just like how one white cop shouldn’t reflect all white people. Can’t have it both ways. I was a Brown fan, not anymore. He should have stood up for himself and confronted the Patriots. He took the bait. I am a middle of the roader because I have different views on certain issues, like most Americans. ---
**Author:** ![AlsoNamedBort](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/alsonamedbort/32/3213_2.png) [@AlsoNamedBort](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/AlsoNamedBort)\ **Post date:** [November 12, 2019, 10:34pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-am-a-proud-middle-of-the-roader-and-damn-proud-of-it/843316/95 "2019-11-12T22:34:19Z")
> [@Yankees\_1996\_Champs](#): > > I am a middle of the roader because I have different views on certain issues, like most Americans. “Centrist” doesn’t mean you think for yourself. So far, all the views you have posted have ranged from far left to center left. That’s not “middle of the road.” Why is so important to you to label yourself as “middle of the road?” ---
**Author:** ![Yankees\_1996\_Champs](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/y/5f8ce5/32.png) [@Yankees\_1996\_Champs](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Yankees_1996_Champs)\ **Post date:** [November 12, 2019, 10:55pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-am-a-proud-middle-of-the-roader-and-damn-proud-of-it/843316/96 "2019-11-12T22:55:44Z")
> [@AlsoNamedBort](#): > > “Centrist” doesn’t mean you think for yourself. So far, all the views you have posted have ranged from far left to center left. That’s not “middle of the road.” > > Why is so important to you to label yourself as “middle of the road?” I am tired of the purity police. The far left and the far right. ---
**Author:** ![Acsenray](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/acsenray/32/4519_2.png) [@Acsenray](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Acsenray)\ **Post date:** [November 12, 2019, 11:23pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-am-a-proud-middle-of-the-roader-and-damn-proud-of-it/843316/97 "2019-11-12T23:23:00Z")
“I hate the purity police” says nothing about what you believe or what your values are or anything about whether left or right or anything else is worth supporting. It also says nothing about what it means to be a centrist or middle of the road. “I’m tired of the parties” is a meaningless, empty statement so far as it concerns conveying what you believe and what you support. We have a two-party system, not because some villain in the background is making it happen. We have a two-party system because that is the natural result of the constitutional structure of our government. It’s inevitable. We are going to have two major parties no matter how much you hate it. So, what a grown up does is take a look at the parties, figure out which one will get you closer to your desired ends and support it. If it’s less than perfect, then you enter the political arena like everyone else can do and try to change it, by, say, contributing money or voting for local candidates or committees and trying to group together with other people to effect change. By the way, that list of people you set forth as mavericks or whatever? Romney and Collins, Manchin, etc. There’s nothing independent or special about them. They’re working within the system. And the idea that someone is somehow a better politician because E goes against es party on a handful of issues is empty and insubstantial. What matters is specifically what stances E takes and why. There’s no value in just being contrary. ---
**Author:** ![Bone](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bone/32/407_2.png) [@Bone](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Bone)\ **Post date:** [November 12, 2019, 11:54pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-am-a-proud-middle-of-the-roader-and-damn-proud-of-it/843316/98 "2019-11-12T23:54:10Z")
> [@Ike\_Witt](#): > > I’m wondering how anyone who comes across as racist as the OP can consider themself a centrist? > [@Ike\_Witt](#): > > Not from the OP but from other posts. Keep the personalization to the Pit. > [@Yankees\_1996\_Champs](#): > > Antonio Brown gives black people a bad name and it is the truth. > [@Yankees\_1996\_Champs](#): > > I believe that Trump gives white people a bad name. Steve Bannon gives white people a bad name. This is textbook racism. Knock it off. [/moderating] ---
**Author:** ![HMS\_Irruncible](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/hms_irruncible/32/7394_2.png) [@HMS\_Irruncible](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/HMS_Irruncible)\ **Post date:** [November 13, 2019, 12:07am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-am-a-proud-middle-of-the-roader-and-damn-proud-of-it/843316/99 "2019-11-13T00:07:34Z")
OK, so it looks like I nailed it (although anybody with 2 functioning brain cells could have predicted it). Like most outspoken centrists, OP likes leftist economic policy but wants to say racist things without being called out on it. Keep on voting Trump and blaming it on someone else, buddy. We don’t need you. You have plenty of people to keep you company (though it’s not especially good company). ---
**Author:** ![RitterSport](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/rittersport/32/6326_2.png) [@RitterSport](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/RitterSport)\ **Post date:** [November 13, 2019, 1:37am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-am-a-proud-middle-of-the-roader-and-damn-proud-of-it/843316/100 "2019-11-13T01:37:47Z")
> [@HurricaneDitka](#): > > Senator Hirono famously said: > > Quote: > Guess who’s perpetuating all of these kinds of actions? It’s the men in this country, and I just want to say to the men in this country: Just shut up and step up. Do the right thing, for a change … > > Representative Ilhan Omar said: > > Quote: > “I would say our country should be more fearful of white men across our country because they are actually causing most of the deaths within this country … And so if fear was the driving force of policies to keep America safe — Americans safe inside of this country — we should be profiling, monitoring, and creating policies to fight the radicalization of white men” > that’s a couple of examples, using the “elected Democrats” standard. So, **bump** and **Yankee** , is this what you had in mind when you said that you feel put-upon by Democrats? Senator Hirono was talking about the problem of sexual assault – obviously that’s going to fall mostly on men (although not only white men, of course). Rep. Omar was talking about the well-known internal threat of white supremacist and white nationalists, possibly the greatest terror threat we face right now ([cite](https://time.com/5647304/white-nationalist-terrorism-united-states/), [cite](https://www.vice.com/en_us/article/j5yjkb/dhs-just-finally-recognized-white-nationalism-as-a-major-terror-threat)) and certainly the greatest internal threat. I’m not sure why he left the context out of those quotes. Anyway, is this what you mean when you say that the Democratic Party has it in for white men? Because I don’t see it, and I think you’re falling for right-wing propaganda. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-am-a-proud-middle-of-the-roader-and-damn-proud-of-it/843316.md?page=4) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-am-a-proud-middle-of-the-roader-and-damn-proud-of-it/843316.md?page=6)