Is the Third Democrat Way the Best Way?

Third Way has already made waves this election season for promoting a centrist view of left of center politics and finding ways to make sure that the democrats don’t move too far left. However, given the crisis facing America today in almost every area of life, is a watered down approach to the Left the best way to move forward?

Third Way Politics

The third way, as a term, was coined in the 1990s to term a particular set of politicians both in Europe and America. In the early 90s, new Labor in the UK was promoting a kinder, gentler, more capitalistic left after years of Thatcherism. In France Francois Mitterrand saw a pathway to unify the left-wing parties of France to a future that preserved the social safety net while also setting french business free to compete on the global stage. In America, Bill Clinton advocated for a new kind of democrat party that would set the stage for things like Welfare reform and other social reforms of the 90s. These politicians were called the third way because their politics were still Left but more towards the center and more palatable to conservative voters. These policies embraced capitalism and jobs while keeping some leftist policies in place. It was termed as a middle-ground and the ability of these politicians to get elected and get things done was hailed as the future of the new Left.

Is the Country Moving Left?

The Third Way stands in the path of leftwing politics and maintains that while Twitter and others might make you think Bernie Sanders and Elizabeth Warren are the future, Americans aren’t ready for european-style capitalism/democratic socialism. They call this the Fun House Effect. They maintain that while those in the democratic party are highly engaged and hyper-active, they don’t represent most democrats who are more concerned with voting out Trump rather than promoting the big revolutionary ideas of Bernie Sanders or Elizabeth Warren.

They promote their polling (see above) that show likely primary voters would like policies that are inclusive of many points of view rather than the defined scope of the New Left repressed by Warren, Sanders and nominally AOC. If you’re looking for the candidates equivalent: Joe Biden fits their politics very well. The real question then is, are democrats ready to hit America with big ideas and a big revolution or simply try to win on the “we’re not Trump.” The 2016 election showed that “I’m not Trump” was not a winner. In fact, it may have had the opposite effect. Meanwhile, the landslide of 2018 showed that when democrats are authentic and talk about big ideas, people respond to it.

The Third Way is a think-tank, what might their policies look like?

What are Third Way Politics?

The Third Way promotes the idea of free trade which was the watch word for trade in the 1990s. Their defense of Dodd-Frank was from a “pro-market” perspective but self-described left-leaning. They supported marriage equality by changing the messaging. It was the same way they claim they helped get the Affordable Care Act passed. Their focus has been on getting things done and doing whatever compromises were needed to bring Republicans along.

Their philosophy is the same way Clinton and others worked in the 90s. Just far enough left to be considered left but no so far left that Republicans can object too loudly. Rather than promoting actual left-wing policies, they prefer the milquetoast version of left-wing politics that amounts to nothing more than GOP-lite. However, they have polling data or prove that their policies and ideas are more electable than truly left-wing ideas.

Why Must the Right Always Be Catered To?

One of the failings of this country, one of the many, is that in any policy discussion, the democrats often think first not if the policy is a good idea or how many people it will help but rather how not to make republicans angry at them. This has been particularly true after 2010 and the rise of the Tea Party. I have many complaints about the way Washington used to work but one of the things I miss is the ability of both sides to come together and come up with a palatable solution for both sides. That is no longer. Republicans seem to be content with simply saying “no” to everything. No to healthcare, no to wage increases, just no, no, no. It does not matter that these policies would help their own voters and improve the lot for people they are supposed to represent, they simply say no.

It seems to me that the Third Way is playing right into this trap. Their whole mission seems to be set on figuring out all the ways to make sure that the Democrat party doesn’t actually complete it’s transformation to a true leftist party with some actual leftist ideas but rather remains the party of GOP-lite where the concerns of the Republican party are constantly catered to on every issue with a complete disregard for the needs of actual people. One factor in all of this I haven’t mentioned is corporate control of government and that is certainly a factor but I can’t get on board with the Third Way.

Third Way politics didn’t pay off in Europe or America. Bill Clinton gave us the 1994 crime bill and welfare reform that has gutted what little social safety net that was available. Tony Blair took the UK to war anyway and Mitterand, while he jump started the French economy, left France in worse shape than when he started. The Third way didn’t work before and I have serious doubts it will work now. The way forward is actual left-wing policies. The Third Way may not like it but the future is Sanders and Corbyn, not Trump or Boris Johnson.