Michael Hiltzik: The false centrism of political group No Labels
Presidential campaigns start earlier and earlier these days, and so too do pleas that politics in the U.S. would be so much more effective if we could, in the words of Rodney King, "all just get along."
So here comes the purportedly centrist political group No Labels, which recently released a 72-page political manifesto entitled "Common Sense," in an overt echo of Thomas Paine.
"Most Americans are decent, caring, reasonable, and patriotic people," declares the document's preamble. "Instead, we see our two major parties dominated by angry and extremist voices driven by ideology and identity politics rather than what's best for our country."
No Labels says it may back a third-party candidate for president next year unless President Joe Biden seems to be running well ahead of Donald Trump. That sounds more like a threat than a promise.
The politician the group has been most assiduously promoting lately is Sen. Joe Manchin III, D-W.Va. Manchin has demonstrated his centrist bonafides by doing things such as , an anti-poverty program of proven effectiveness, and in favor of protecting coal and other fossil fuels (he's an investor in the coal industry).
