Playing Offense from the Center: John Avlon Talks Independent Politics With the Economist

In an interview with the Economist, CNN contributor and author of "Wingnuts: How the Lunatic Fringe is Hijacking America," John Avlon discusses independent politics and "playing offense from the center." Some excerpts from Avlon's responses:

only 15% of Americans define themselves as conservative Republicans and 11% call themselves liberal Democrats, according to a Pew survey released last year. That means that there is a massive untapped market in America for something other than bitter and predictable partisanship. Part of the reason I started the “Wingnuts of the Week” segment on CNN was to find a way to play offence from the centre . . . .

There are more independents than Democrats or Republicans, and their numbers have reached over 40% of the electorate—an historic high. This is a direct reaction to the polarisation of the two parties . . . the two parties should consider themselves put on notice by the American people. They can’t indefinitely ignore the fact that a plurality of Americans are proactively rejecting them . . .

Younger generations have grown up with a multiplicity of choice on every front, which can be tailored to suit their individual beliefs. Politics is the last place where we are supposed to be satisfied with a choice between Brand A and Brand B.