Our view: Hey, parties, don’t forget about moderate voters

All signs are that this could be a tough year for Republicans, in large part because swing voters are turning away from them.

In a recent Washington Post/ABC News poll, self-identified moderates said they’d vote Democratic this fall by a whopping 30 percentage points. The last time Democrats enjoyed anything close to that kind of advantage was in 2008, when a 21-point lead among moderates translated to a near landslide election.

This is clearly a troubling sign for the GOP. But it should serve as a warning to both parties to pay attention to the political middle. With apologies to pop singer Meghan Trainor, politics isn’t all about that base. The Democratic Party and the Republican Party need to assiduously court moderates. And, to varying degrees, they’re failing.

This is apparent in a GOP that has cast its lot with President Donald Trump, who apparently believes that he can overcome his incompetence with a combination of narcissism and ethnic polarization.

It is also a growing trend among Democrats. This fall, the party will run gubernatorial candidates in Georgia and Florida, and a number of House candidates, who are considerably more liberal than their states or districts. The party has also changed its convention delegate rules to accommodate Sen. Bernie Sanders and make it easier for insurgent candidates to win the presidential nomination.

While the wings of the parties are where the noise is, overlooking the center is shortsighted. Self-described moderates make up the largest bloc of American voters, with conservatives second and liberals third. In presidential election years, moderates often exceed 40% of the electorate. What’s more, voters have a history of punishing partisan overreach.

Playing strictly to the base is also bad for the nation. Parties that don’t care about the middle cannot reach out to the other party to get things done.

The great legislative feats since World War II — such as the GI Bill, the Civil Rights Act and the Reagan-era tax cuts — have almost all been achieved with votes from both parties. So have some of the less loved but still vital measures such as the 1983 law to keep Social Security afloat.

America’s diverse electorate swings left or right depending on candidates and circumstances. It rewards candidates who can clearly articulate their visions, but who also can work across party lines and see the interests of moderate voters.

This is one of the reasons the death of Sen. John McCain of Arizona struck such a chord. He was conservative, particularly on national security, but he also embodied the kind of patriotism over partisanship that is increasingly hard to find in today’s Washington.