Independent Nation: How the Vital Center Is Changing American Politics

As a young independent voter, I am frequently mocked as too liberal for my Republican friends and as an "apologist for coporate America" by my Democrat friends. This book speaks to me in the assurance that I am not alone. It reads like "Profiles In Courage" for the political arena. Extremists are denounced and not given the chance to color the progressive landscape of the Centrists. The book feels well-paced and should inspire one to action. It personally gave me hope for 2008, when hopefully reasonable voices will be raised again.

John Avlon's book Independent Nation, distinguishes itself from the pack of jeremiads against our polarized political culture via his ability to use small points to prove larger ones. He weaves a rich tapestry from the fabric of American history that allows the reader an insight not only into political giants such as Moynihan and Giuliani's policies, but there persons as well. By including sections about lesser known figures Avlon shows that while we do live in a unique time, this is not the first generation whose politics were personal or polarized. One of the most fascinating parts of the book is the section on Edward Brooke, who is an often forgotten figure in the struggle for civil rights. How did a black Republican get elected to the US Senate in white Democratic Massachusetts? Avlon argues that by pursuing the "vital center" he was elected first in 1966 and then re-elected in 1972 even as Nixon was losing the state. The arguments he uses to buttress this point are impressive and well-thought out. Is there a vital center anymore? The fringes of both parties take out their vengeance via the primaries on any person who puts forth what Dick Morris called the "triangulation strategy" and but yet we sometimes let great leaders slip by like Guliani, Moynihan and even Clinton. I once read that we get the politics we deserve rather than those that we desire. Avlon illustrates this with countless examples of people who were excoriated by their own parties and often only appreciated in historical retrospect. Where have you gone Daniel Moynihan....

John Avlon's Independent Nation is a cogent and nuanced history of the profoundly independent character of American political life. As a historical education in the lives of leaders who defied the conventional political wisdom of their times by steering an independent path we see icons from Teddy Roosevelt to Rudy Giuliani. They sometimes left their base voters puzzled but won accolades from the vast center. In these character and leadership profiles, Independent Nation shines.Both parties continue to wage primary battles that mandate we follow Nixon's dicta: run for your base in the primary, run in the center for the general. As the fractures on the far left and far right combine with increasing vocal constituency groups at either end of the spectrum, getting back to the center in either campaigns or governance becomes more challenging, though as Avlon's work demonstrates, more vital than ever. Independent Nation serves as a smart roadmap for campaigners, historians and those interested in the tidal flow of ideological life in America. It is a picture not only of what effective leadership from the center of our nation has been, but is becoming.