If I were running for president (I never would, but thank you to those so confident in me you’ve suggested it), I would go after the middle band of American politics.
I would do this not because I think centrist policies always produce the best outcomes (though they often do) or because all my political views always land in the center (they don’t). Instead, I would try to appeal to the middle band because I think they are underrepresented in today’s politics, and the right candidate with the right framing of moderate politics could win in a landslide. But most importantly, I think their priorities are often sensible and fair.
This might not seem like a hot take, but this viewpoint is surprisingly uncommon. In many elections (especially primaries), being more extreme is electorally advantageous — that explains why a lot of our politics have been getting so much more extreme. On top of that, the electorate seems to increasingly favor “change” in each election cycle. President Barack Obama was a “change” candidate and won largely by presenting himself as a challenge to the status quo. Trump introduced a coarser and more frank politics that also promised change and disruption. He was a response to the sleepwalking, out-of-touch, and failed political norms of the past few decades. Biden won in 2020, I think, largely because of Covid-19 and the president’s mishandling of a once-in-a-lifetime globally disruptive event.
Yet, in 2028, “change” might constitute a return to the middle. The response to the current administration could come from either the left or right, but it could just as easily come from the center. This third option would be a politics not of partisan rancor but of moderation, and in this current climate it could read as refreshing and “extreme” in its own right. If a leading candidate could hold the good ideas of each side, and the best of their ethos, simultaneously — that leader, in my view, would be extremely successful. And, better yet, could pull us back from the brink.
Some data backs this up. For instance, a 2024 Gallup poll on U.S. party affiliation shows that the share of self-identified independents continues to grow. 43% of Americans describe themselves as independent, compared to just 28% each who answer Republican or Democrat. Of course, we know that most people who self-identify as “independent” often have a party preference, but the description alone is a strong signal about how people view their own politics — and how appealing a more moderate, less party-forward political campaign could be.
So, over the last few days, I started thinking about how I’d construct a more moderate presidential campaign if I actually had to. I sat down and considered the large, middle band of American politics as I see it today, and I created a 10-point platform that I think would appeal to a huge swathe of American voters.
I don’t think this plan is particularly Republican or Democratic in nature. Rather, I think it could appeal to chunks of both parties’ bases. And, crucially, I think it’d be especially attractive to the self-identified independents and a whole range of other voters who, right now, don’t even show up to vote.
As I looked over the 10-point plan, I realized that some of the points were intentionally broad (as campaign promises often are). So I also tried to include at least one concrete example of how each point might manifest in a policy sense to clarify the broader goals I’m getting at. Without further ado, here it is:
