Michele Bachman is not a centrist sellout. Dennis Kucinich is not a centrist sellout. They may be centrist within the regions that elected them, though. (Chris explicitly pointed out this distinction.) It’s only the politicians with serious prospects nationally who have to look like sellouts to their activists at large. And of course most activist-minded people will find that the politicians they can actually vote for are centrist sellouts. I bet Bachman doesn’t look like a sellout to Republicans in, say, Massachusetts, but the Republicans who can actually vote for Bachman may think she’s a wishy-washy compromiser, and the Republicans in New Jersey are stuck with the likes of Scott Brown.
Yup, it’s a big old simplification—reality is pretty messy.
As to your specific examples, Kucinich was, indeed, quite an outlier and is no longer in congress. Bachmann’s views are probably quite a bit closer to that of the median voter. Even just yesterday she was making wishy-washy statements on the debt limit fight and over at redstate.com you can read Erick Erickson denouncing Republican leaders for “caving on everything”.
I think that’s an oversimplification.
Michele Bachman is not a centrist sellout. Dennis Kucinich is not a centrist sellout. They may be centrist within the regions that elected them, though. (Chris explicitly pointed out this distinction.) It’s only the politicians with serious prospects nationally who have to look like sellouts to their activists at large. And of course most activist-minded people will find that the politicians they can actually vote for are centrist sellouts. I bet Bachman doesn’t look like a sellout to Republicans in, say, Massachusetts, but the Republicans who can actually vote for Bachman may think she’s a wishy-washy compromiser, and the Republicans in New Jersey are stuck with the likes of Scott Brown.
Yup, it’s a big old simplification—reality is pretty messy.
As to your specific examples, Kucinich was, indeed, quite an outlier and is no longer in congress. Bachmann’s views are probably quite a bit closer to that of the median voter. Even just yesterday she was making wishy-washy statements on the debt limit fight and over at redstate.com you can read Erick Erickson denouncing Republican leaders for “caving on everything”.