I worked hard to help elect President Obama. I believe he will be a terrific President because he understands that change means listening and compromise, not political posturing. The way forward is almost always up the middle. I look forward to helping the President find that way forward on health care, energy, and our struggling economy. The left and the right shouting at each other hasn’t gotten much done. Red vs Blue hasn’t been very successful either.

I always try to be an independent voice for Missouri. I evaluate every issue, not as a party vote, but as a policy vote.  There is nothing about the group of moderate Democrats that undermines President Obama. Just the opposite, I believe we can help bring people together around good policy and get away from some of the nasty partisan food fights that have blocked real progress for so long.

–Sen. Claire McCaskill (D-MO) on her blog

With all due respect to the good Senator, the middle of the road actually leads nowhere.

Throughout history, whether we got into deep trouble or reshaped the world for the good of all, lasting accomplishments rarely come from the center, in fact. The center almost always leads to ineffectual half-measures, baby-steps that are easily reversed, costly delays and the pervasive sense that government is inefficient and ineffective.

Whether you regard changes as good or bad, they most often come from the commitment of principled activists who pursue what they believe to be right and who risk their standing to fight for it, without compromise.

There were plenty of people who believed that compromise with King George was preferable to rebellion. There were plenty who knew that a country could prosper half-slave and half-free, who were certain that a mixture of government spending, tax increases and balanced budgets could reverse the Great Depression, that compromise and concession could prevent a World War. There certainly were plenty of people who thought small steady steps could eventually achieve full civil rights for minorities. We know how those things turned out.

More recently, conservatives have won massive tax cuts that changed wealth distribution in this country for a whole generation, nearly destroyed the labor movement, significantly reduced environmental protections and eroded our civil liberties. Like me, you may despise them for it, but they didn’t get there by compromise.

The middlke road does have one virtue – which may be why politicians and those who rule the village inside the beltway so  long for bipartisanship and centrism. It buttresses the status quo, extends the careers of politicians, and maintains the entitlements of those who run Washington.

Those who fight for what they believe risk their status and their position. If they’re wrong, if they’re out of step, they pay the price. (Just ask the GOP leadership). But more than that, they also run the risk of success, and for those whose status and perks depend on things staying the same, that’s the scariest prospect of all.