[inglor_cz]

Unfortunately us HNers have a lot to do with this, even though approximately none of us had this in mind when coding the relevant stuff.

This is how politics looks like when the radical fringes from social networks take over national parties and squeeze out the so-much-mocked "enlightened centrists" from their seats. Missing them yet?

The same problem in Europe is somewhat tamed by proportional voting systems, but various edgelords have invaded our politics as well. Slovakia, right next to Czechia, is a horrible political circus. AfD in Germany mostly built its electorate online etc.

[thrance]

AFAIK, there are no "enlightened centrists". Most of those so-called centrists (Lex Fridman, Joe Rogan, you name them) are now neutral to friendly with Trump. This state of affairs is not grassroots, it was deliberately manufactured by convservative media like Fox News or right-wing influencers, funded by a massive influx of cash from the top billionaires who are now the only ones currently profiting from the administration.

[sanderjd]

That's not who this person was talking about. They were talking about the boring institutionalists on both sides of the aisle that edgy people have been scoffing at as "The Blob" or "The Village".

[ZeroGravitas]

Isn't Nate Silver who wrote about "The Village" a classic enlightened centrist?

Has the far-right hijacked and ruined yet another useful phrase?

[inglor_cz]

Precisely. MAGAs call them "cucks".

[AlexandrB]

Why does being "neutral to friendly" with Trump mean you're not a centrist? There are only two options in the US political system. Would being "neutral to friendly" with Kamala mean someone is more centrist somehow?

There's the assumption infused to a lot of these conversations that Trump is uniquely bad or uniquely extreme and so that "centrism" would still mean opposing him.

I also don't get what's particularly "grass roots" about support for the Democrats. During the Kamala campaign we had a string of celebrity endorsements including a cringey Avengers reunion zoom call. These are rich, privileged people from a specific social milieu - not grass roots by any means.

The last "grass roots" candidate was probably Bernie Sanders (someone Joe Rogan also supported, incidentally), but he was too dangerous to corporate profit margins for the DNC to let him win.

[Braxton1980]

You can have a grassroots campaign while also having celebrities endorse you. They are two different things

[thrance]

Between Trump and Harris, yes, Trump is uniquely bad and extreme. While I do not hold the democrats in my heart, their party holds much milder views that those of Trump.

Indeed, being friendly to Harris would make you "not a centrist", hence why I think it's weird how we're able to stick that label to obviously pro-Trump people.

The GOP received the lion share of financial aids during their last campaign, and it has been so for quite a while. Let's not even speak of dark money. That is not to say the democrats relied on 100% grassroots initiatives, far from it.

Can we stop this whataboutism and bothsideism from polluting the discourse? It is hardly relevant.