The beginning of the end of polarization

So what the heck is "The Ascendant Center"?

No...it's not a mystic academy in India where shamans guide you through the finer points of levitation! : )

"The Ascendant Center" is my political blog focused on the 2008 presidential campaign. Hmmm...I wonder if there will be anything of interest to write about between now and November 08? : )

I believe fervently that it takes more to win the presidency than just being the most skilled campaigner - or even the campaigner with the "best" message. It takes timing - the convergence of the political yearning of the country with the candidate best able to express that yearning. Ronald Reagan, whatever you may think of his politics, was an ideal candidate for his time. The same with John F Kennedy. All throughout our history, America has been blessed with gifted leaders at critical moments. The birth of our country is synonomous with George Washington. The Civil War with Abraham Lincoln. The Great Depression and World War II with Franklin Roosevelt. It's as if Americans recognize when things are at the tipping point, and our collective wisdom (and providence it would almost seem) bring us the person best able to see us through the darkness.

But the general public has become disengaged. The hysterics of the far left and right fill the airwaves. "Debate" in this country has become nothing more than a venal display of arrogance as hypesters on both sides find the smallest of incidents and try to use them to paint the other side as dangerous or out of control. I'm talking to you and your ilk Bill O'Reilly. Egged on by these PT Barnums of the media, the extremists have polarized our country. We have become a country of red states vs blue states, urban life vs. country life, rich vs. poor, religion vs. atheism, and most of all, for the war vs. against the war.

We have reached a tipping point.

The challenges ahead of us are as fearsome and complex as any we have ever faced. We're bleeding troops and wealth in the Iraq quagmire. Iran nearly has a nuclear weapon and wants to wipe Israel off the map. Global warming threatens to profoundly change the lives of this generation. Oh, and there are few issues worth noting at home too - like a broken health care system and rising wage inequality. If we continue down the polarized path we are on, it will become impossible to solve these issues.

But there is hope. While the vast majority of Americans have become disengaged with politics - they have also become deeply unsettled. They sense something is very wrong. Even those who have forsworn the news because "it's always negative" or it "doesn't affect me personally" sense by osmosis that things can't go on comfortably much longer. I'm also deeply interested in a phenomena that I see more and more of - a sense that it's this generation's time to make the sacrifices necessary to ensure the comfort of the next. The time for demonizing the other side is past. The time for saying "here's how I want to help" is here.

The table is set...

The people are ready...

All that's needed is the charismatic leader...