Is there a "moderate" political web board on the net?

[napi21]

I love DU, but I feel like we're preaching to the choir most of the time. I'd love to find a board like this one where there's some hope of changing someone's mind on the elections. We all have so many good points that I'd love to be able to get through to some of the people who still think they're not sure, or that it really doesn't matter who they vote for.

[Catch22Dem]

1. Hell, the way some people talk on here

I think we have change some minds HERE first! Every day I see some thread like, "Oh, Kerry just lost my vote because..." Ok, fine, don't let the door hit ya in the arse.

[libhill]

3. In that case -

they have no right to bitch about Bush. They should shit or get off the pot.

[lanparty]

27. No REAL Democrat (or moderate) would vote for Bush ...

... after the last for years.

Just like Dubaya has said "Fool me once shame on you, Fool me ... uuhhhh, .........., ya can't fool me again, see".

[tritsofme]

2. If they're thinking like that

chances are that they won't be surfing political boards.

[joanne]

4. Doug Basham

Has his own message board and also a great radio show you can hear on the Internet weekdays.

http://www.dougbasham.com

[walldude]

5. I don't think theres much moderation left

We are as divided a nation as we have ever been. Used to be a Conservative and a Liberal could have an honest debate then go throw back a few beers together. Now it's "If you are not with us you're against us" The dems should be using that in the campaign. Edit shots of Bush saying he's a uniter not a divider with shots of "If you're not with us you're with the terrorists"

[leftistagitator]

6. Good Luck.

Every message board I've ever been to was either filled with people like us, Freepers, or a mixture of the two. I'm guessing moderates don't hang around message boards too much, probably because they avoid confrontation as much as possible, otherwise they would pick a horse already. Good luck arguing with the Freepers, every single argument I've had with them boils down to 1 point, they don't trust my sources, and I don't trust theirs. They Right has mimicked legitimate sources so well that it's hard to explain to people why you can't trust the Heratige foundation or AEI as much as you can trust the Brookings Institution, and if they get in trouble they play the liberal bias card. I find if you want to influence right wing or moderate people it's best if you do it in person, 1 on 1.

[joanne]

7. I tend to agree with you

The right wing nuts who post on other boards wont listen to anyone. They cheerlead together and name call anyone who isnt on their side.

Some times it can be fun to argue with them but for the most part I find it frustrating and a waste of time.

I think even if they agreed with us they would never admit it.

[libhill]

8. I caught 'em one time

with the shoe on the other foot. I was suckered into a political argument in a chat room, and most of the chatters agreed with my points. The wingnuts got frustrated and left.

[jdj]

11. That reminds me of how I feel when straight women make derogatory

comments to me about men, and because they think it's true that all Lesbians are man-haters.

If they admit to agreeing with dems on anything, it will be privately one on one, while publicly towing the party line with their comrades

[jdj]

9. yes, John Stewart had Christine Todd Whitman on his show

and he asked her how the pukes plan to get the moderates excited about this election, and I liked her reply, she said "It's hard to get moderates excited about anything." Of course, she meant true political moderates, not apolitical morons.

[TexasSissy]

12. The moderates aren't people who haven't chosen a horse. Moderation IS

their position. It's a valid position.

Signed,
A Moderate (okay, I'm left of center, which technically is liberal....but I'm a moderate compared with many on DU)

[napi21]

13. I'm glad to see there are moderates here on DU.

That sure isn't the case on all the freeper sites.

I must admit, I have posted some middle of the road statements here, and had a lot of people agree with me.

Maybe I have found the home of the moderates and just didn't realize it.

At least most the people here don't scream at you when you ask real policy questions. They don't slam you for not towing the line.

I was just listening to Bill Moyers tonight on CNN and whe he said the RW plan began in the late 70's and has gone on for 25 years. They now are running the country, and the only way to get "normal" back is to get enough people upset enough to do it. He also said the internet has made a BIG difference in politics and how messages are communicated. I was just trying to figure out a way to promote that infulence.

It's very hard to undo brainwashing.

[jdj]

16. I like the Jim Hightower quote that "there's nothing in the middle

of the road but yellow lines and dead armadillos."

In previous administrations I can see how people could be moderate, but fulling knowing George W. Bush as an evangelical who is hailing the end of the world through armageddon in our lifetime should be enough to make anyone cleave to the left.

[lanparty]

28. Sometimes there are medians ...

... filled with nice landscaping and pretty trees.

[leftistagitator]

23. Yeah, but he was talking about undecided moderates

which I read as politically uninvolved. There are lots of centrist Dems out there, I know that.

[Booster]

25. I'm a moderate also,

at least that's what every political test I've taken says and I really like being a moderate. Extreme anything bothers me, whether it's political, religious, etc. My political tests show me right there with Ghandi and I don't think that's a bad place to be. I am however definitely voting for Kerry no matter what.

[alarcojon]

17. They don't trust

NYTimes, CNN, MSNBC, ABC, NBC, CBS, Washington Post, etc. etc. Makes it real hard to get a hearing for your argument. Of course, that is exactly the point of the "liberal media" crap.

[Moonbeam_Starlight]

10. I just left one

that wasn't necessarily political in origin, but has a lot of political talk on it. Us liberals were causing them a bit of trouble, so after getting the sit down, shut up message one too many times, I said see ya.

I was VERY careful to use language that wasn't seen as offensive, etc. Didn't matter. There is everything from freepers to ultra-liberals to everything in between. The moderates usually sit out political discussions.

Good luck in your search!

[GreenPartyVoter]

14. You can try some of the boards listed on my site

some are a good mix of all kinds of different political views.

http://www.geocities.com/greenpartyvoter/newsbooks.htm

[jab105]

15. I own one that has a reasonable balance conservatives/liberals...

it's really small, but good for the in depth debates...

http://www.understandingpolitics.com

[napi21]

19. Thanks. I just registered. I look forward to the experience.

I think I am a moderate, and I hope a lot of others join me there to help others see that it doesn't pay to be an extremist on either side.

[Sugarbleus]

21. Cool Jab...thanks n/t

[haele]

18. Do you mean a "moderate opinion" board or an info board?

True Moderates are usually folks of one or several persuasions who are usually "nuanced" in various positions across the political spectrum. Not just the "conservative dems" or "liberal 'pub" types, nor those who fall into the middle-right side of the political fence that now passes for "moderate". Most Moderates are also picky about their participation in any sort of activism; usually they engage only in what directly impacts them personally and only so far as they can without straining their personal resources.

Moderates would probably feel more comfortable with a heavily moderated, straight information/minimal opinion allowed board that doesn't do much in the way of activism.

From what I understand, DU is not meant for those that fall in the category of straight Moderates, Conservatives, or Liberals...it's a place not only for both those members of the Democratic Party and those people who are of a progressive/activism bent but for those who are working to kick the Shrub off the big chair in the oval office and see everyone in his administration who deserve it do the perp walk within the next five - ten years (or sooner).

That's not necessarily something that the average Moderate may want to stress his or her mind out thinking over. Especially Moderates who really do hate dealing with extremes or think that strong, passionate, decisive "discussion" is equivalent to borderline bigotry and/or tin-hattery.

I've yet to find a "moderate" opinion board where the freepers, nationalists, and hard-liners haven't destroyed and/or taken over in one way or another unless it minimizes the amount of opinion or commentary allowed in the forum posts.

Haele

[napi21]

22. I'm not sure I totaly agree with you.

I agree that most moderates don't like strong activism on either side, but I don't agree that they are only interested in what the program can do for them alone.

I think a true moderate is someone who doesn't hate, but is at least willing to listen to both sides of an argument, and make a decision based on what he/she believes to be true.

I've been a Dem all my life, but I was a strong supporter of McCain in 2000...even changed my registration so I could vote for him in the primary. When he lost, I changed back to a Dem. I wanted a candidate who was a bit of a rebel. I did vote for Gore in the General Election, but I never really could say "WOW, I really like this guy".

I guess our opinions of what is a moderate are different.

[tom_paine]

29. True Moderates vs. Cautious Moderates

Napi, you describe a True Moderate (one who believes that the system should be steered down the middle at all costs, but through poliitcal conflict by left/right within the framework of the System).

A True Moderate would turn against the Left if it got too much power.

A Cautious Moderate seeks modration in all things, is cautious and rarely makes a stand OTHER than seeing both sides.

I believe what you describe and the person above you also describes are moderates, just 2 different kinds...

[Sugarbleus]

20. I looked for something like that myself...but didn't come up

with anything......... let us know if you do.

[sofa king]

24. The Straight Dope

If you feel like paying to provide their content in a sealed intellectual bubble, that is. I don't. Having recently re-visited it, it's still molasses slow and the morons now have a larger voice because they paid to play.

However, the Straight Dope was once an excellent message board for stipping the bullshit off of most politics, and it probably still is. You can tell they're pretty balanced because the frothing partisans often complain that the boards are biased toward the other side.

The Straight Dope is biased against the Bush Administration, no question about it. One of the brightest stars of that message board enjoys elucidating the "bias" in the form of a (paraphrased) question: "why is it that a message board entirely devoted to fighting ignorance by exploring the truth has such a heavy bias against the statements, policies and actions of the Bush Administration?" It shouldn't be surprising that a presidential administration which specializes in secretiveness, deceit, and incompetence is decried by people who attempt to expose such practices.

[doodleysquat]

26. http://www.politics.com/discussion.html

Can't say they're all moderate, but at a glance it looks like a wide range of opinion