The center of it all

Can two sides be beyond shouting distance by now?

BIOLOGISTS think 50 percent of species on our planet will face extinction by the end of the century, and you can go ahead and throw American centrists on that list. Sizing up the likely Democratic challengers to President Trump, even this far out, leaves something to be desired in the way of left-of-center candidates.

It looks like we’re fated to watch Walmart and Amazon opponent Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-Union Lobby) take another swing at the presidency, according to CNBC: “An insurgent underdog no more, Vermont Sen. Bernie Sanders is laying the groundwork to launch a bigger presidential campaign than his first, as advisers predict he would open the 2020 Democratic presidential primary season as a political powerhouse.”

Fantastic. Another round of far-left proposals with no clear way to fund them.

The other speculative candidates don’t seem any more promising. There’s Kamala Harris, Elizabeth Warren, Corey “Spartacus” Booker, Rep. Beto O’Rourke and former Vice President Joe Biden. The candidates may be diverse in race, age and gender, because that’s the only way party bosses allow diversity these days. But please don’t try to disagree with a party platform. Ever.

Yes, it’s a race to the left as all compete for the title of Most Progressive. They all seem to be itching to promise a $15 minimum wage, free college and single-payer health care. And the plan for paying for these treasures seems to be more of the same: pointing out how much we spend on other things.

Democrats are not unique in their problems. The Republican Party continues to deal with the mirror issue thanks to far-right candidates. But you’ll recall the party still had a couple of centrists in late 2016—people like John Kasich and Marco Rubio.

Our polarization problem isn’t going to be solved by each party giving up on compromise. Super-majorities are the exception, not the rule, in our nation’s history. It’s far more common for parties to control different parts of government than to have the White House and both chambers of Congress. And super-majorities don’t last forever. Eventually, the fickle American public throws the opposition party back into the mix.

Blue Dog Democrats need to make a comeback in the worst way, or best way. Where are the Dale Bumpers and David Pryors of this generation? Are there any?

Perhaps one hope remains, and his party should be paying him much more attention: U.S. Sen. Doug Jones of ‘Bama. That Democrat’s strategy for winning reddest Alabama should be photocopied and sent to every Democratic office across the country. NBC News summed up Mr. Jones’ recent winning strategy here: “Jones urged Southern Democrats to stick to ‘kitchen table issues,’ build coalitions broad enough to welcome everyone from moderate Republicans to African American liberals, and to resist the temptation to pretend you’re something you’re not, because ‘authenticity is the most important thing that a candidate can have.’”

How about that? Kitchen table issues every American cares about. If we’d put down the identity politics and culture war for a moment, imagine what we could accomplish.

As for Republicans, we’d like to see more Gov. Asa Hutchinsons and Sen. Ben Sasses, fewer Steve Bannons. Let’s make the middle ground great again.