An opinion essay carried by The Western Journal argues that America’s political “middle” has slid left, with consequences for how candidates are perceived by swing voters. The author says he realized the shift during arguments over cultural relativism when his longtime debate-ender — citing “female circumcision” — stopped ending the debate.
The anecdote he says changed the debate
According to the essay, the writer used to halt accusations of xenophobia by invoking “female circumcision.” He claims that, more recently, liberals have pushed back and, in his telling, come “close to defending” the practice when framed within a particular culture.
From taboo to ‘moderate’?
To illustrate what he sees as a leftward-moving Overton Window, the author lists positions he says were once outside mainstream debate: hormonal or surgical treatment for possibly gender-dysphoric minors; the fact that even liberal Democrats such as Barack Obama once opposed same-sex marriage; wealth taxes and racial reparations; single-payer health care; mail-in voting and ballot harvesting after the 2000 Florida dispute; and court packing, which he describes as a historical “no-no.”
On immigration, he contrasts past Democratic stances with what he characterizes as present-day calls to “open up the border” and to fly in “hundreds of thousands” of migrants “in the dead of night at taxpayer expense.” He also writes that Obama deported undocumented immigrants and emphasized enforcing existing law.
Why he says it matters to elections
The essay argues that independent voters are influenced by whatever is labeled “moderate,” likening their instincts to a “soft rock or adult contemporary” format. He contends that Democrats backing “Medicare for all,” court packing, “abolish ICE,” or “boys in girls’ sports” can now be cast as moderates if they appear less left than a Democratic Socialists of America challenger. Citing one example, he writes that an independent in states such as Ohio or Georgia might view a local Democrat as mainstream “because the standard for ‘liberal’ has been established by the likes of Abdul El-Sayed in Michigan.”
In his conclusion, the author says this dynamic benefits Democrats and harms Republicans as major party figures “tack as far to the left as they can get away with” when the acceptable range of debate shifts.
Editor’s note on attribution
The source document includes The Western Journal’s standard disclaimer that “the views expressed in this opinion article are those of their author and are not necessarily either shared or endorsed by the owners of this website.”
