There is no such thing as a “radical moderate” in American politics.
As the extremes of the parties pull away from one another, a large swath of the American electorate sits frustrated and unserved. However, those voters in the “exhausted majority” do not necessarily represent the sort of cosmopolitan centrism usually touted by political elites. According to new research out this week, there are many core issues where moderates break with the progressive movement in America. If the Democratic Party runs in 2020 on a campaign that ignores the sometimes more conservative values of the political middle — such as religious faith or a belief in hard work to overcome obstacles — data suggests they will seriously limit their ability to make inroads with the political middle.
