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What is "the center" anyway?
Do you know that a "centrist" is a term concocted and defined by the Left?
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That's a legitimate question. The answer is the center moves.
As issues of the moment vary (abortion was not even on the radar screen in 1940), the positions that define left, right and center change.
Pre 9/11, terrorism was not on the radar screen. A candidate who based his entire platform on anti-terrorism measures would not have been taken seriously. In Sept of 2000, the dominant issues were economic. The NASDAQ had already lost a lot of its value from the peak.
Advocating a US military presence in Iraq in September of 2000 would have been viewed as bizarre and extreme right wing -- and it would have garnered few or no votes. That wasn't the center then.
So Hillary is trying to establish herself as a Centrist for the issues of note that exist today. In a liberal state like NY, our best strategy from a national perspective is force her to be more liberal than her opponent. Remember, it's not just Democrats at issue here. NY has a lot of liberal Republicans. Her campaign will have to respond to the challenge to commit to a full term and to avoid that issue, she'll pander to all the liberals she can find, of whatever party affiliation.
The optimal strategy is to run someone close to the center and force her leftwards.
You don't do that by nominating someone who holds similar views about basic issues.