Well done, JFern. I give you credit on this one. As far as phony centrism, the proper solution is to redefine what the Democratic party is. Get rid of the "big tent" concept and establish what your core views are, and make sure your politicians match those views. This will, of course, shock the party initially, but it will shake out all the true centrists and moderates out of the Democratic party, leaving it with it's liberal core.
The cast-offs can finally form a true moderate party, and pull into it some of the centrist/moderate Republicans, providing a better representation of what America really is. We could end up with the Republicans, Democrats, and the Populists, with the Constitution, Libertarian, Green, Reform, and other parties gaining more political recognition and strength with the reduction in the domination by the two existing parties.
Now THAT I would love to see.
