United Liberty

I have previously argued that we as libertarians should target our appeal to centrists. Libertarians and centrists share many characteristics, mainly the common value of independence and the rejection of the Republican and Democratic ideological orthodoxies as presented. Furthermore, the center has quite clearly been the electoral kingmaker in recent history, so the political advancement of libertarians depends significantly on their success in winning centrist votes.

Targeting appeal to centrists entails that libertarians adjust their discussion of the issues to suit a centrist framework. This doesn’t necessarily mean that libertarians change their principles and positions. It may mean, in some cases, moderating specific policy proposals. It certainly entails that libertarians choose which isssues to discuss selectively, so as to emphasize issues where they share common ground with centrists.

Tailoring our approach to win over centrists necessitates forming an understanding of how they think. While polls may indicate how they stand proportionally on particular issues, it’s more essential to get an idea of their fundamental thought process. This forms an expectation of their views on a broad range of issues as well as how libertarians should frame their positions to appeal to them.

General data on the psychology of moderates is somewhat hard to come by, but studies focusing on specific areas also provide some valuable insights. A 2007 paper by Neil Gross of Harvard and Solon Simmons of George Mason University investigates the political views of college professors. They amass some very interesting data that provide key insights

Gross and Simmons find, interestingly, that the plurality of college professors consider themselves centrists. 46.6% of respondents consider themselves “slightly liberal,” “middle-of-the-road,” or “slightly conservative,” the groups that Gross and Simmons classify as “moderate.” 44.1% of respondents classified themselves as “liberal” or “extremely liberal,” while only 9.3% identify themselves as “conservative” or “very conservative.” As Gross and Simmons note, this indicates a move in college faculties toward the center compared to past data.

However, the data on ideology by department reveals even more interesting insights. Moderates comprise a slim plurality of professors in physical and biological sciences (47%, compared to liberals, who comprise 45.2%), while they make up significant majorities in Computer Science and Engineering, Health Sciences, and Business departments. In terms of voter registration, Independents hold large majorities in Computer Science, Electrical Engineering, Mechanical Engineering, and Marketing departments. They hold large pluralities in Management Information and Art departments, as well as slim pluralities in Finance and Economics departments. Thus, according to Gross’ and Simmons’ data, centrist college professors have their largest presence in highly empirical and quantitative fields.

This would seem to confirm the commonly held view that centrists are guided less by consistent ideology and philosophy and more by empirical observations and the unique circumstances and nuances involved with each issue. This suggests a three-pronged approach for libertarians to effective reach out to the center:

1) Emphasize areas on which the government has clearly screwed up. Centrist voters are especially aware of instances when government policy fails. According to an October Zogby poll,

• 80% of Independent voters believe the War on Drugs is failing. 48% of Independents believe that the best approach is to end the War on Drugs or legalize some drugs, while 39% of Democrats and 23% of Republicans hold either of these views. A further 16% of Independents believe that the best approach to dealing with drugs is to reduce demand through treatment and education, indicating that a sizable majority of Independents oppose aggressive drug prohibition policies.
• 53% of Independents believe the U.S. should lower the tariff on Brazilian ethanol imports.
• 60% of Independents believe the U.S. should revise policies toward Cuba. 71% believe Americans should be allowed to travel to Cuba, while 60% believe the U.S. should trade with Cuba.

While these seem like relatively minor issues, they’re very clear instances in which centrists realize the ineffectiveness of particular policies. This would also indicate that we can reach out to them on issues like federal deficits, the War in Iraq (and other particular foreign policy blunders), and the Alternative Minimum Tax.

2) Speak clinically about issues. Cite specific evidence and statistics when discussing the issues and providing foundation for policy proposals. Centrists need to be swayed by evidence, and they want to hear that candidates are knowledgable and competent.

3) Make moderated, nuanced proposals. A platform of abolishing federal taxation (and replacing it with nothing), 75% of federal spending, and the Federal Reserve is not going to win over centrist voters. It’s fine to discuss philosophical objections to these policies and a desire to see them end in the future, but it’s more feasible now to discuss how to reform them in substantive and productive ways. For instance, a proposal for a green tax shift- moving away from income taxation to pollution taxation- is one that could potentially be very appealing to centrists. A fiscal platform consisting a Balanced Budget Amendment, cuts in foreign policy spending and corporate welfare subsidies, and budget control rules is appropriately specific and common sense. I will discuss libertarian platform idea for staking the center in a future installment of this series.