The nomination of Donald Trump forces Republicans to look hard at their party, themselves—and each other. In a column for Red State, Ben Howe revealed that the zombified state of the Trump-afflicted GOP has led him into the depths of doubt, “wait…we ARE the stupid party?” To this, voices from the political middle might rise up in answer, “No, both parties are stupid.”
In his 2013 Centrist Manifesto, economist and policy scholar Charles Wheelan framed a centrist movement that would begin by electing Independents to disrupt senate majorities in state houses—so far, with just one close race lost, no dice. Around the same time, No Labels, a coalition of pols and citizens frustrated with “the attitude” of parties, was conceived by a team of consultants, and is now led by Republican Jon Huntsman, Independent Joe Lieberman, and Democrat Evan Bayh.
