We live in a world pulling towards the extremes, of big conglomerates and small business, of red and blue states, black and white people, green and no green in the wallet.
There are those who say the middle class is disappearing.
I think they’re right, not because no one lives there, but, as the chasm grows, because no one gets noticed there.
Centrist opinions often carry the tag of weakness, an odor of indecisiveness, a perceived inability to plant feet and choose sides.
If you don’t believe we live in a world of extremes, just ask any of the screaming (not talking) heads on cable news each night.
And it’s hard for the middle to find a candidate to support as well.
One side wants to give tax breaks to the rich.
The other side wants to tax the rich to give to the poor.
When was the last time you heard someone say they want to help those chasing the American Dream but only making it halfway?
It is in the middle where you find families paying huge amounts of premiums for just the basics of health care.
It is in the middle where $3.30 a gallon starts adding up with two working adults, band practice and soccer tryouts and grocery store runs.
It is in the middle where college costs a fortune and (wouldn’t you know it?) you make just enough to be ineligible for any assistance.
It seems that as the rich get richer and the poor get poorer, millions forgotten in the mix get lost in the middle.
For them, there is no platform, no candidate and dwindling hope.
It’s hard to have nothing; but it's also hard to believe you have a foothold on something only to find out that you don’t.
That’s something that even $1800 dollars worth of economic stimulus won’t be able to fix for long.