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Explains why voters often favor more extreme politicians over more effective moderates and shows readers how they can help progressive leaders accomplish change.
Holding the Center brings fresh insight to this precarious moment in American politics—and offers a surprising and audacious path forward. The book speaks directly to Americans unwilling to accept either authoritarian Trumpism or tired, conventional politics mired in the status quo. Author David Yassky makes an original and powerful case for centrism as not only pragmatic but deeply principled and rooted in the core American values of progress, humility, patience, community, and democracy. He draws on dozens of entertaining and illustrative examples, ranging from national debates on gun control and health care to grittier local fights over taxicabs and gentrification, to show how bold and determined policymakers use moderate strategies to achieve pivotal progressive victories. Holding the Center goes beyond diagnosis to offer specific, ambitious, and—crucially—achievable prescriptions. This highly readable book gives Americans ready to do their part to rebuild democracy both a clear understanding of our current predicament and a clear road map to restoring the vital center.
"David Yassky's Holding the Center is a must read and a call to action for those alarmed about Trump and turned off by the extremes in all directions. Only a Democratic center that is equal measures lofty and ruthlessly pragmatic can beat back the immoderate forces on the left and right that put solutions ahead of slogans." — Jim Kessler, co-founder of Third Way
"David Yassky has written the centrist Democratic manifesto we need now—a full-throated, intellectually honest case that moderation is not the absence of political conviction but its best expression in a democracy. Drawing on three decades of experience in New York politics, Yassky focuses on how governing actually works while advancing a practical, progressive policy agenda that can help heal our economic and political divides. He also draws on history to put our current moment in context, from a deserved defense of the Obama administration's successes to the policy failures of the past decades that hollowed out faith in the American Dream, leading to the reelection of Donald Trump. Make no mistake, this is a counter-cultural effort at a time when the loudest and most extreme voices disproportionately dominate our politics—but finding moving beyond grievance and gridlock is essential to the success of the American experiment. The center must hold because democracy depends on it." — John Avlon, host of How to Fix It with John Avlon, former editor-in-chief of The Daily Beast, and author of Lincoln and the Fight for Peace and Theodore Roosevelt's Guide to Life: The True Story of the Man in the Arena
"The United States is experiencing an era of peak polarization. Now is an ideal moment to advance the argument that moderation is the key to political success and effective governance. David Yassky provides that argument persuasively, informed by his decades of hands-on experience as a federal and local policymaker. Yassky offers a sensible path out of the current maelstrom." — Ronald Weich, Dean, Seton Hall Law School
David Yassky served as a New York City Council Member, as Counsel to the US House of Representatives Committee on the Judiciary, and in the administration of New York Mayor Michael Bloomberg. He is also a former Dean of Pace University School of Law and a noted scholar of the Bill of Rights. He resides in Brooklyn, New York.