Re: "Centrism"
The words "normal", "mainstream", "centrist", "middle-of-the-road", and "moderate", used in a political context, are useful because they inform me that I'm speaking to a political playah...
It's a well established tactic of both parties and their more ardent followers to define themselves as exactly moderate, and the other side of a particular issue as "The most virulent, unhinged, extreme {right, left} wing of the far {right, left}". Play buzzword bingo listening to one party talk about the other and you'll see what I mean.
When everyday folks use it, i realize they're either 1) too afraid of what other people think about them 2) incredibly naive and really believe that they just happen to be perfectly centrist on each and every issue or 3) some sad combination of the two.
I freely admit I'm pretty right of center. I'm more left than most rightys, but calling me a "right-wing nutjob" is almost a compliment these days.
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