“Vote for a pro-choice, pro-marriage equality, pro-background checks candidate who is the right choice for the Illinois’s 10th district,” the ad begins. Then the surprise: “Bob Dold, the right Republican for us.” What?
In Illinois 10th district, an area traditionally composed of center-right middle- and upper-middle class suburbs, the ad makes sense. Represented for five terms by Republican now-U.S. Senator Mark Kirk (R-IL), the district picked Republican Robert Dold in a hotly contested 2010 election. Then, in 2011, the Democratic-controlled state legislature redistricted, excluding the most Republican-leaning areas, adding more low-income neighborhoods, and also redrawing the map to exclude Congressman Dold’s house. A year later, he lost to moderate Democrat Brad Schneider by 3,300 votes.
Now, however, Dold is back, rebranding himself as a social liberal, fiscal conservative, and moderate Republican. In a recent debate, he took pains to repeatedly emphasize his ranking as “one of the most independent, bipartisan members in Congress.” It is a cliché to say that moderate Republicans are going extinct, but it still is refreshing to see a race between two genuine moderates.
The two candidates are so moderate, in fact, that the actual differences are hard to find. The Chicago Tribune, in its endorsement of Dold, noted that the candidates “largely agree” on a raft of issues. While they differ in their perspectives on entitlement reform and the budget, issues of obvious importance, they agree on immigration, guns, abortion, gay marriage, campaign finance, foreign policy, and the environment. For this reason, the race has been ranked as one of the most competitive Congressional contests in the country.
Finding true Republican moderates in today’s political climate can be difficult. Arguably, Speaker Boehner’s challenges stem from his lack of sufficient numbers of them in the House GOP caucus. Regardless of their individual stances on issues, electing moderate Republicans might be the best route forward in the near term to break the gridlock: they enable Boehner to pass legislation in spite of conservative opposition from the Tea Party caucus. If we want comprehensive immigration reform, a reasonable budget, tax code changes, or any of the other pieces of legislation that seem to be in the works, having Republicans willing to compromise will be critical.
The national discourse is so often dominated by the polarizing and partisan far left and far right that we don’t get to see what the centrists actually look like. Those who are inclined to be middle-of-the-road are cowed into submission by primary challenges and party-line votes. Even the moderates in the district – Dold and Schneider – spent their two years in Congress voting relatively consistently with their party. They are not immune from partisanship. Yet still, the glimmer of moderation is refreshing, and it makes the discussions of actual policy ever more salient. In the words of that political ad, Dold might just be the right Republican for this district and, ultimately, the right kind of Republican for the country.