Three Top Websites for Moderate, Centrist, and Independent Voters

Liberals and Conservatives have a hard time with Moderates, Centrists, and Independent voters. Scorned by both sides, they are considered too conservative by Liberals and too liberal by Conservatives. However, both have to court those in the middle to achieve their political agendas, because a large portion of the electorate is in the center. While there are some red states (Republican) and blue states (Democrat), many states are purple, with elections decided by Independent voters who are usually in the middle, thus, whichever side can swing the Center vote, wins the election. To those in the center, it appears more and more like the screamers and extremists from both sides are dominating the media, whether its television, talk radio, websites, or blogs. But there are some places to turn to on the web that try to balance it out.

ModerateVoters.org

ModerateVoters.org bills itself as an alternative to the Far Left and Far Right. The About Us page at ModerateVoters.org leaves no doubt that its philosophy is in the center. It states that the moderate voter believes in a moderately sized government that can solve some, but not all, of society's problems. There should be personal responsibility and respect for others in society. There should not be equal outcomes, but equal opportunities. Debate and compromise should be the basis for governing.

ModerateVoters.org doesn't write its content; instead, the site features links to news articles from a wide range of organizations. Links to Fox News, MSNBC, Politco, ABC News, The New York Times, USA Today and CNN news stories are all found together. Links to commentary are equally diverse, with Paul Krugman, George Will, David Broder, and Thomas Friedman among those featured. There is a section on Moderates and Centrists in the news. The idea is to provide both news of interest to moderates but also to inform readers on issues of the day. The site also has links to blogs and other websites categorized for conservative voters, liberal voters, and moderate voters.

TheModerateVoice.com

TheModerateVoice.com features a staff of writers with diverse backgrounds that produce original material for the site. The site's Mission Statement declares that its writers don't agree with each other on all issues. They represent the center, center left, and center right depending on the issue, and positions may change because moderates will evaluate new information and change positions. The site also has links to blogs and sites of the center, left, and right in the interest of adding, in the words of the Mission Statement "meaningful depth to the debate of issues" .

John Avlon at theDailyBeast.com

John Avlon is Senior Political Columnist at TheDailyBeast.com. He is also the author of two books. The first is Independent Nation: How Centrists Can Change American Politics and his most recent book is Wingnuts: How the Lunatic Fringe is Hijacking America. The latter has pictures of Glenn Beck, Sarah Palin, and Keith Olbermann on the cover. His work also appears on CNN.com. among other places. Avlon pulls no punches in his columns, often focusing on extremism. The comments from readers that follow are lively to say the least.

I live in Wisconsin, where thankfully, voters do not have to declare a party affiliation when registering to vote. I have grown weary of hearing that the "other side" is not only wrong, but evil. To paraphrase Groucho Marx, I wouldn't belong to any political party that would have me as a member. But if someone was to create a new Centrist Party that would focus on the best of the left and best of the right without the extremism we see today, I just might change my position.