For those of you looking for a practical, pragmatic and well thought out response to issues of the day, without all the partisan hype, look no further than the Lonely Centrist. Centerman, the anonymous writer of the Lonely Centrist, has spent a great deal of time focusing on issues related to campaign finance law and other election related topics, but none-the-less, his no-nonsense approach makes the writing a must see.
Centerman does not post everyday, in fact, he may go several days without posting. But don't let the lack of content quantity fool you, the quality of his writing and insights makes every word count. His knowledge of legal theory is strong, and while a Centrist, Centerman has a pretty strong libertarian streak:
Senator Carl Levin, ranking Democrat on the Senate Armed Services Committee, asks, "Where does he find in the Constitution the authority to tap the wires and the phones of American citizens without any court oversight?" This is an excellent question, exactly the question Congress ought to ask, and the President should have asked.
I do not wish to minimize the importance of this issue - the war against terrorism is the most important issue facing the country today, and far too many people treat it far too cavalierly - whether it is the Howard Dean and Democrats in Congress, and even more some of their far-out friends in the blogosphere, that refuse to take the threat seriously, and can only think of partisan advantage, or whether it is the Administration and some of its more aggressive supporters, who seem to be offended that anyone would question warrantless domestic spying, let alone torture as a means of interrogation.
But that said, the Centerman wishes that Mr. Levin's question - "Where in the Constitution does he find the authority?" - were asked a bit more often on Capitol Hill. Where is the authority for Congress to regulate campaign expenditures and contributions? Where is the authority for "No Child Left Behind" and the entire Department of Education?" Where is the authority for the "Gun Free School Zone" act? Where is the authority for the Department of Energy? Where, quite frankly, is the authority for much, much, much of what Congress does?
Indeed.
While Centerman has only been posting to the Lonely Centrist for a few months, he has rapidly become a regular read for me and for other campaign finance enthusiasts, such as Allison Hayward at the Skeptic's Eye and Prof. Rick Hasen.
If you have an interest in finding an opinion not nearly as rife with a shrill partisan agenda, read Centerman at the Lonely Centrist.
The Interview
1. In 25 words or less, what is your blog about?
I had wanted a place where issues could be debated without hysteria. It has become far more focused on campaign finance than I ever imagined.
2. What prompted you to begin blogging?
I was shooting my mouth off one evening over a drink, and a friend said, "you ought to blog." I really knew nothing about it - still don't, really.
3. Is there a particular posting you have made in the past three months of which you are particularly proud? If so, please provide a link.
I think my best posts were back in the summer, but if you're limiting me to the last three months, this post provided some information I've really not seen elsewhere, regarding Sam Alito's views on Voting Rights.
4. Your grasp of campaign finance and free speech issues is quite deep.
Without revealing so much as to give away your identity, can you describe your educational and professional background?
Checkered.
5. What prompted you to adopt the handle, The Lonely Centrist?
Well, as I said, I had originally intended for this blog to be a place for general discussion of issues. To be honest, I was supposed to have a partner - he was actually the Lonely Centrist, and me the Centerman. As I noted in my very first post"Why is it that when I talk with my conservative friends I feel so liberal, and when I talk with my liberal friends I feel so conservative?"
The answer, I think, may be that the chattering classes have become so partisan and politicized, while more typical folks out in "fly-over country" have increasingly, I think, withdrawn from discussions, because they are so nasty. So the people who are talking politics are increasingly doing so in strident terms and without nuance. Some people, like Richard Hasen, have argued that I am really a conservative. I suppose that is fair enough - I voted for GWB twice. But I don't feel terribly at home in the GOP. I voted for Gerry Ford in 1976, but didn't vote Republican again until 1992 (in retrospect, a mistake at least twice). I think of myself as a moderate, at least by disposition, and my approach to politics, if not my ultimate position on any given issue, is moderate.
6. On a number of occasions you have referred to Democracy 21's Fred Wertheimer as the Most Naïve Man in America. Assuming that he is number 1, who would round out your top three naïve people in America and why?
Well, of course this is one of my few fun, recurring lines on the blog, and I restrict it to the good government types - goo-goos - who run the campaign finance reform lobbies. In other posts, I have suggested that Larry Noble of the Center for Responsive Politics is a legitimate contender for the crown, and also the American Enterprise Institute's Norm Ornstein, in this post.
I think that the efforts of reform groups really are incredibly naive in the end, although the reformers are very cynical in how they go about selling their case. But really, as I try to indicate in my various "most naive man" posts, they are naive. They seem to think that everybody in government is corrupt, except when they utter the words "campaign finance reform," and then they briefly become pure and true; and the reformers seem utterly unable to comprehend that reform itself is part of the political process, and used for partisan ends. In this, they are very naive about how government works - indeed, what government is all about.
7. Knowing that you don't necessarily speak for all centrists out there, what do you think is the biggest challenge facing those who stand firmly astride the political middle?
Renewing confidence. We've gotten into a bullying style of political debate. Bullies and thugs and the like tend to make people cower just by their swagger, their use of intimidation. We can't surrender political debate to the screamers at Daily Kos and the like. Those who believe in more reasoned debate need to reclaim the political debate. But to be honest, I don't really know how we do that.
8. If President Bush nominated you to serve as a Commissioner on the Federal Election Commission, what three things would be your top priorities?
LOL, but I'll bite.
1) Try to simplify the regulations. I would probably repeal most of them entirely - many merely repeat the statute, thus doing nothing more than cluttering things. Others have grown horrendously complex - starting over would be better than trying to amend;
2) make it harder to file complaints, including adding a provision for sanctions for frivolous complaints, and interpret Section 437's prohibition on revealing an investigation to apply to the filing of the complaint as well. Complaints are filed as political weapons and PR releases. The law says that people may not, without the written consent of the respondents, reveal the fact of an investigation publicly. Why doesn't this apply to the filing of the complaint itself? Why should a campaign be able to file a complaint against their opponent (or more typically, have a sympathizer file a complaint), and then announce that "a complaint has been filed, the first step in launching an FEC investigation into these serious allegations."
Isn't that just what the statute was intended to prevent? I think that would be a legit interpretation of the statute, and would take away some of the benefit from filing frivolous complaints. Adding sanctions would probably be challenged in court and may not survive, but I'd give it a try.
That would also cut into the use of the complaint process as a political weapon.
3) Petition Congress to rename the agency the "Federal Campaign and Political Speech Control Commission." That would make more clear to the public what the Agency does. It does not regulate elections. It regulates campaigns, and most of all, it regulates campaign speech.
9. With the caveat that as the editor of my own blog, is there a blog that you like which you would like to see interviewed in this space? Please provide a link to the blog.
Many. For openers, the Skeptic, www.skepticseye.com. Or to get off this campaign finance stuff, how about Professor Bainbridge at www.ProfessorBainbridge.com. And one more, one of the best young editorial writers out there, Ryan Sager, of Miscellaneous Objections.
You know, if I can add a parting thought, Sager is by most standards very conservative politically, but while his comments are sometimes strong, they are always fair, presented honestly and with respect, based on facts and thoughtful arguments. To me, that makes Sager something of a centrist, someone who is open and thoughtful and serious. One other favorite of mine is the Mystery Pollster, www.mysterypollster.com.
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