Promising Radical Centrist Politicians

"I find the radical middle extraordinarily compelling. Any politician who can capture this mode of thinking and not just give lip-service to it deserves my vote"
-- Alan Stewart Carl, "Satin Asks: Are the Best Conservatives Becoming Radical Middle?," Maverick Views blog, March 21, 2007

Over 25 Arguably Radical Middle National POLITICIANS!

CRITERIA: Politicians must hold or have held big-city-mayoral, statewide, or national office, and still be plausible candidates for office.

CLARIFICATION: All these politicians are “middle” in the sense of being thoughtful, pragmatic (i.e., not ideologically committed to the far left or far right), and open to adopting constructive new ideas from any and all points on the political spectrum. But by “radical middle” we mean more than that. We mean thoughtful, pragmatic, open-minded politicians who are committed to addressing our fundamental problems in creative new ways.

In that sense, few of the politicians listed below are truly “radical middle.” But all of them are arguably capable of becoming radical middle over time, or under the right circumstances.

REQUEST: Please suggest candidates for this list! Enter your suggestions HERE.

Evan Bayh (D-IN) -- Senator from Indiana; Chair of the Democratic Leadership Council; author of From Father to Son: A Private Life in the Public Eye (2003)

Michael Bloomberg (I-NY) -- Mayor of New York City; author of Bloomberg on Bloomberg (new ed. 2001); deliverer of shockingly substantive address to the "Ceasefire!: Bridging the Political Divide" conference (June 18, 2007, Los Angeles CA), discussed by us HERE

Earl Blumenauer (D-OR) -- Congressman from Portland OR; highest scorer in Radical Middle Newsletter’s Congressional Scorecard for the 108th Congress (2003 & 2004)

Tom Carper (D-DE) -- Senator from Delaware; Co-Chair of Third Way: A Senate-Focused Progressive Advocacy Group

Mike Castle (R-DE) -- Congressman from Delaware; former Governor of Delaware; Board President of the Republican Main Street Partnership

Hillary Rodham Clinton (D-NY) -- U.S. Secretary of State; former Senator from New York; former First Lady of the United States; author of Living History (2003)

Susan Collins (R-ME) -- Senator from Maine; Board Member of the Republican Main Street Partnership; co-author of Nine and Counting: The Women of the Senate (2000)

Artur Davis (D-AL) -- Congressman from Alabama; Co-Chair of the New Democrat Coalition; earned one of highest ratings in Radical Middle Newsletter's Congressional Scorecard for the 109th & 110th Congresses (2005-2008)

Bob Filner (D-CA) -- Congressman from San Diego CA; highest scorer in Radical Middle Newsletter’s Congressional Scorecard for the 107th Congress (2001 & 2002)

Rudolph Giuliani (R-NY) -- former Mayor of New York City; author of Leadership (2000); see also the stirring book by his former chief speechwriter and current campaign operative John Avlon, Independent Nation: How Centrism Can Change American Politics (2004), discussed HERE

Chuck Hagel (R-NE) -- former Senator from Nebraska; spoke at radical-centrist New America Foundation conference in 2005; author of the thoughtful article "A Republican Foreign Policy," Foreign Affairs, July / August 2004

Rush Holt (D-NJ) -- Congressman from central New Jersey; earned the highest rating among Congressmen in Radical Middle Newsletter's Congressional Scorecard for the 109th & 110th Congresses (2005-2008)

Tim Johnson (D-SD) -- Senator from South Dakota; earned the highest-ever score for a Senator in Radical Middle Newsletter’s Congressional Scorecards (see Scorecard for the 107th Congress)

Ron Kind (D-WI) -- Congressman from western Wisconsin; co-chair of the New Democrat Coalition

Angus King (I-ME) -- former two-term Governor of Maine; now involved with Unity08; author of Angus King, Independent for Governor: Making a Difference (1994)

Mark Kirk (R-IL) -- Congressman from the North Shore suburbs outside Chicago; Co-Chair of the Republican Tuesday Group (moderate counterpoint to the Republican Wednesday Group founded by Newt Gingrich)

Blanche Lincoln (D-AR) -- Senator from Arkansas; Co-Chair of Third Way: A Senate-Focused Progressive Advocacy Group; co-author of Nine and Counting: The Women of the Senate (2000)

Linda Lingle (R-HI) -- Governor of Hawaii; Honorary Advisory Board Member of The WISH List, Republican pro-choice women’s support group

John McCain (R-AZ) -- Senator from Arizona; author of Worth the Fighting For: The Education of an American Maverick, and the Heroes Who Inspired Him (2002)

Barack Obama (D-IL) -- President of the United States; former Senator from Illinois; former community organizer; author of Dreams from My Father: A Story of Race and Inheritance (1997) and The Audacity of Hope (2006), reviewed by us HERE

Colin Powell (R-NY) -- former Secretary of State; former Chair of the Joint Chiefs of Staff; author of My American Journey (1995)

Arnold Schwarzenegger (R-CA) -- Governor of California; husband of Maria Shriver; deliverer of a joyfully post-partisan "Second Inaugural Address" (January 5, 2007), discussed by us HERE

Adam Smith (D-WA) -- Congressman from the Tacoma region of Washington State; PAC Chair of the New Democrat Coalition

Olympia Snowe (R-ME) -- Senator from Maine; earned the highest rating among Senators in Radical Middle Newsletter's Congressional Scorecard for the 109th & 110th Congresses (2005-2008); co-author of Nine and Counting: The Women of the Senate (2000)

Ellen Tauscher (D-CA) -- Congresswoman from just east of the San Francisco Bay Area; Chair of the New Democrat Coalition

Jesse Ventura (I-MN) -- former Governor of Minnesota; author of I Ain’t Got Time to Bleed: Reworking the Body Politic from the Bottom Up (updated 2000)

Christine Todd Whitman (R-NJ) -- former Administrator of the Environmental Protection Agency; former Governor of New Jersey; author of It’s My Party Too: The Battle for the Heart of the GOP and the Future of America (2005), reviewed by us HERE

THE RADICAL MIDDLE CONCEPT:

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25 Arguably Radical Middle POLITICIANS

GREAT RADICAL MIDDLE GROUPS AND BLOGS: