Americans read Joe Klein's piece in Newsweek on how to capture the "radical middle." Candidates seek the center. Polls show Americans want moderation. Presidential hopefuls that seem above the realm of politics, notably Colin Powell, remain in the forefront.
Meanwhile, the budget battle being waged on Capital Hill stands in marked contrast to everyone's concern with the middle ground, a reminder that politics must intrude into reality for progress to occur in our country.
The balanced budget battle is fast coming to a close. Although the White House and the Republican Congress have shown considerable attempts at compromise, the battle has not yet been won by either.
Last week the House Republicans voted to slow the growth of Medicare over a period of seven years. Clinton prefers a 10-year plan to balance the budget. The Republicans do not have the votes to override a Clinton veto, thus they have worked consistently with Clinton in compromise efforts.
But the Republicans decided to draw a line in the sand when it comes to their seven year plan. Their weapon is the "trainwreck" that will occur if they do not agree on 13 new spending bills by October 1. The "trainwreck" is the possible shutdown of government operations if Congress and the President do not agree to these measures.
A bigger threat proposed by Newt Gingrich and his budget hawks comes in the form of allowing the United States to default on its loans if Clinton does not sign on to the seven-year plan. Allowing the United States to default on its loans might undermine investor trust in American credit which in turn might increase long term interest rates, making it more costly for the government to borrow.
Gingrich makes no bones about the direction in which he is pushing national policy and what he is willing to do to see it go in that direction. Gingrich's plan is a radical departure from past financial plans. It is the plan we elected the Republican Congress to enact. It is the plan that will save our system from bankruptcy.
Though Gingrich has not made a declaration that he will run in '96, he may be waiting for us to become fed up with the indecisiveness of current candidates seeking the middle and of our flirtation with independent candidates.
In Time's essay, Charles Krauthammer writes that "Our entire political engine was built precisely to produce conflict, tension, even gridlock. The way to rise above that is not with some man on a white horse mouthing mush. The way to elevate politics is to elect a man with a party and a program and give him a shot."
Gingrich is not likely to run, but his actions in the budget battle demonstrate the problems with a candidate such as Colin Powell who has yet to make any truly decisive statements or policy positions.
I would not count Powell out so fast. Although he has yet to make any definite decisions, Powell can provide the social equivalent to what the Republicans provided for our fiscal planning system -- a fresh perspective spoken with courage.
Powell plans to continue what the Republicans began with their Contract With America. The promise of Powell does not lie in merely upholding the status quo, but in beginning a new dialogue on social issues that continue to plague our country.
The big issue for Powell, of course, is race. If Powell attempts to avoid that and other social issues, he may disappear in the middle.
But if he decides to face these more painful issues he may well bring our county some of the success that characterizes his personal life. We can only hope he takes a lesson from Gingrich and ignores the advice of those who tell him to reach voters who are sick of politics as usual.
