Most Voters SpanThe Middle

If you had been following the recent U.S. presidential election, you may have noticed how much influence the evangelical segment of the Republican Party was having in setting the GOP agenda. Many political pundits felt that Mitt Romney, a known moderate, was being pushed, perhaps reluctantly, to uphold a more right-wing approach. I guess some backroom GOP party wonks were of the view that the keys to the Oval Office would be obtained with retrogressive policies. Well, that did not turn out as expected. The GOP will now enter a period of navel-gazing. They will have the next four years to find a better way of listening to those that can elect them and that probably means looking for ways to keep the party rednecks at bay. In Canada, the federal Liberal Party is also going through some major adjustments to get back their lost supporters.

What’s interesting here is that Canadians had grown weary of too liberal (small ‘l’) policies and were ready for a more conservative (small ‘c’) approach to governance while our neighbours to the south are now moving closer to a more liberal attitude in many areas. We live in an era whereby the vast majority of people want governments that govern in the middle. Those that gravitate to the polarizing extremes of right-wing and left-wing politics are out of touch with those that advocate a sense of balance in government policies. Perhaps the GOP, and the Liberals in Canada, will recognize that their political parties need significant renewal in order to attract those that can elect them to office. Once their wounds have healed, they will have little time to waste.