Why moderates are needed in Congress

     Moderates are a vanishing breed on the edge of extinction in Congress.  Moderates face electoral challenges not only from the opposing party but from within their own party as well.  What have they done to incur the wrath of those inside their parties?  They made the choice to cross party lines from time to time and vote for or against legislation because they believed it was in the best interests, not of their party but of the people of this country.  Democratic moderates find themselves at odds with the more progressive left wing of their party.  Republican moderates are targeted by the more conservative right wing of their party.  Both the progressive and conservative groups believe their parties will be best served if the moderates are gone.  They are wrong.  The government created by the Constitution depends on moderates to function properly.
     During the debates over ratification of the Constitution, the Anti-Federalists were deeply concerned about the possibility of groups and/or factions gaining control of he government and forcing their ideas and agenda on the citizens of the United States.  Both Alexander Hamilton and James Madison addressed these concerns.
     Hamilton, in Federalist Number 9, uses the words of the philosopher Montesquieu to demonstrate that larger governing bodies can be an effective force against factions gaining control because the other members of the governing body would act to stop that from happening.  Hamilton chose to quote Montesquieu directly because the Anti-Federalists used Montesquieu's writings to oppose a central government.  Montesquieu believed in very small republics.
    Madison, in Federalist 10, acknowledged that factions and parties will form.  He defined a faction as: "a number of citizens, whether amounting to a majority or a minority of the whole, who are united and actuated by some common impulse of passion, or of interest, adversed to the rights of other citizens, or to the permanent and aggregate interests of the community."  
    Madison believed that "if a faction consists of less than a majority, relief is supplied by the republican principle, which enables the majority to defeat its sinister views by regular vote."  The faction could "clog the administration".  However, the implication is that if the more moderate members broke with their party and voted with the administration, the government would function properly and work for the best interests of the people.
    Madison knew that factions could gain a majority and believed that "the form of popular government, on the other hand, enables it to sacrifice to its ruling passion or interest both the public good and the rights of other citizens."  Once again, the implication is that the more moderate members of the faction would break with their party and look for that common ground, that middle position, which would best serve the interests of the people.
     President Bill Clinton understood this concept.  During his administration, he moved from the left to a position closer to the center and was criticized by the more liberal members of his party.  The present Congress has very low approval ratings because both Democrats and Republicans are determined to stick to their party's agendas and punish those who dare to seek some common ground.  As a result, not much has been done in Congress the past two years.
     The government created by the Constitution can only work when the President and members of Congress work together and find that middle ground on which they all can agree.  This can only happen when moderates are in Congress.