Can anyone recommend a good "centrist" message board?

[ShimokitaJer]

Not that I don't love you guys -- really, I do. It's just...

Well, call me crazy, but it often seems like we're just playing the "I can be more liberal than you!" game. It's not even a matter of preaching to the choir -- of course we all hate the policies of the Bush administration -- it just frequently devolves into "You/your candidate/your mother isn't a real liberal" name-calling.

Don't get me wrong -- I get a lot of great information here, and pick up on a lot of news stories I would have missed otherwise. The wealth of information on a wide variety of topics has given me a far better grasp of the issues than I would have had otherwise. As discussion goes, though, it often seems more Crossfire than Meet the Press... and occasionally it dips into Jerry Springer territory.

Generally, the only right wing message board ever mentioned on DU is the Free Republic, which I have difficulty believing is characteristic of the general public. Yes, the right wing media conspiracy is hostile, and I know many of you believe we have to "know the enemy" and "fight fire with fire." But frankly, I don't need any help attacking Freepers' positions. Most of them are so weak they can be knocked over with a well-placed question or two. What I would really like is the opportunity to talk to people who don't agree with me, but who are willing to discuss issues. You can cry foul and say that speaking to the needs of anyone but the liberal base is pandering or "appeasing," (god, what a word) but our eventual candidate is going to have to talk to these people, and it would behoove us to learn to do the same. We and the Freepers may be loud, but our votes only count as much as anyone else's.

So, is there a forum for "real conservatives" (if such a thing still exists) out there? A non-partisan (if such a thing ever existed) message board that doesn't regularly devolve into attacks? A political forum where it means more for the group to work to find out the truth than for each individual to convince the others that they were right in the first place? I'm certainly not abandoning DU, but I think there's only so far we can go talking to each other. Eventually we're going to have to face the other side as something other than the enemy.

Any advice, either via this thread or via PM would be much appreciated.

[realFedUp]

1. Yahoo has different user chats...

but since I don't post on a conservative message board,
I don't have any real information.

If you're not happy here...find somewhere you will be.
:-)

[chimpymustgo]

5. That was a little short, no? People can frequent different boards.

I have been curious about reading from other sites as well, and await posts with information. I love DU, but I agree, a lot of what goes on here is "My guy is great, yours isn't".

I would love to see more thoughtful discussion than the food fights that have come to characterize much of the discourse.

[newyorican]

2. Capital Grilling

Go there for a total free-for-all. The lefts and rights fly faster than Ali could throw them.

Be warned that the effect is similar to watching shout TV, both sides tend to cancel and the individual is left trying to figure things out by yourself.

www.capitalgrilling.com

[TexasMexican]

4. genmay

www.genmay.com

:p

[ShimokitaJer]

15. Hmmmm. Not quite what I was looking for

I don't think I could handle a forum where the rules are:

Alrighty then...

this is basically an anything goes style forum with a few exceptions:

1) flame away

2) politics, religious, and racial posts are welcome.

3) if i see any, "my girlfriend told me that she is a guy" threads or any sissy shit like that, i'll just delete it...

4) outside of these basic rules, anything goes...

[ShimokitaJer]

6. That's exactly what I don't want

And I've tried Yahoo as well and it's been the same kind of thing.

What I'm looking for is a message board that doesn't consider "non-partisan" to mean an equal number of those yelling on the left as they have yelling on the right. There are more than two sides of every issue, and insisting that everyone simplify their argument and fit into one side is just non-productive.

It would have to be moderated, of course, because there's no way something like that could develop without being disrupted. I guess what I'm really looking for is a post-new-rules DU with even stricter guidelines against personal attacks and allowing of righties as well as lefties in.

[Papa]

11. I have similar feelings

I have learned so much here, that I want to debate the right wingers. I've seen this question come up a number of times and it appears as tho there isn't a consensus on where to go.

I also yearn for a DU type forum with rules and moderators where you can debate without getting banned or booted, but it appears as tho it does not exist. If anyone knows of a decent specific site, please share.

[MrPrax]

16. Web-Based Chats are for Wimps

For those with guts...the IRC is true war of words.
And some of the political ones are 'centrist' but most require active participation...
DU is pretty mild actually...
Most of the 'big' threads cover a large section of opinion

[papau]

3. The New York Times boards - if they still exist - were "center"

good luck.

[BigLed]

7. calpundit

not a board but the message centers on the blog are a place to talk.

[iverglas]

8. nothing useful to offer

Just an endorsement:

"But frankly, I don't need any help attacking Freepers' positions. Most of them are so weak they can be knocked over with a well-placed question or two."

I have never, ever been able to figure out what the obsession with FreeRepublic is. They're raving lunatics who have banded together on the internet. There isn't a vacant millimeter on the bottom third of the IQ bell curve there.

"What I would really like is the opportunity to talk to people who don't agree with me, but who are willing to discuss issues."

Yeah, wouldn't that be nice? My own preference would be for people who do in fact agree on a certain basic common ground of values, and are interested in hashing out the finer points ... in case you happen to find one.

It will have to be devoid of people who think that reading the opening post in a lengthy thread, tossing off a two-line incredibly shallow opinion in response to it, and then responding to a challenge to back that opinion up with something, to discuss the issues raised, by saying "why are you attacking me? I'm entitled to my opinion!" ... has something to do with either discourse or democracy.

When the subject is public policy -- the stuff that is going to affect everybody -- and when what one is trying to do is influence it, one has a responsibility to participate in genuine discussion of one's position. Accordingly, that ideal board won't have "ignore" buttons on it, either. Anybody who is truly ignore-worthy by reason of refusal to engage in sincere, genuine, good faith discussion in favour of stupidity and malice will be sent to the outer darkness, and anybody who ignores others attempting to engage him/her in discussion will be similarly exiled.

Hey, isn't Christmas coming?

.

[bearfartinthewoods]

19. i hate to say this but that's what freepville used to be like.

in 98 and 99, you had to think twice before posting a vanity thread because people would rip you a new one if you didn't flesh out your points. it was a good place to debate back then and there were many of use posting. then the purges started and you know the rest.

[prolesunited]

20. So...

Do you feel more at home on DU? :hi:

[iverglas]

22. aha

Before my time!

What it reminds me of now is nothing so much as the guestbook at rightgrrls a couple of years back -- www.rightgrrl.com. In fact, that was the first internet discussion board I ever saw, happened on it by accident one day when it came up on a search for real info for work. It's dead at the moment, the whole site has been dead it seems, but you can read old guestbook archives by clicking on the guestbook link http://www.rightgrrl.com/guestbook/guest.html.

I always just had this kinda Platonic vision in my head, all these disembodied chattering nattering rightgrrl-demons trapped in a cave, except there's really a real world outside the cave and they don't know it ... which is too bad because the cave is all stunk up with bat shit and when a real live normal person stumbles in it's just dark and noisy and smelly and really really icky and you have to hold your breath and cover your ears until you can make it back out ...

.

[proud patriot]

9. With the Country so polarized right now

centrist stuff is pretty hard to find .

Good luck :hi:

[Screaming Lord Byron]

10. Yeah, the US is way too polarized for you to find what you're looking for

sorry. Nothing comes to mind.

[kcwayne]

12. DU is centrist

The right wing has moved so radically right, that what they call left is really just right of center.

The mainstream of thought on this board does not hold leftist views, which would include such things as reorganizing the capitalist principles, redistribution of wealth, communism or socialism.

If you are looking for a board where the discussion doesn't devolve into attacks, you won't find them. Whether the discussions are about bird watching, personal products, or Republican stupidity, there will be people with opposing views that believe the best way to articulate their viewpoint is to attack yours.

[spindoctor]

21. That's how I feel

I'm a centrist myself (leaning left), and I find people and opinions to the left and right of me here.

There are plenty of threads that do not involve the democratic candidates. The ones that do logically shift to 'Mine is bigger than yours' because that is only human nature.

[xultar]

13. I love DU, but the anger and hostility is just tooo much sometimes.

Most DUers are nice. But there is often hostile hysteria without listening to other voices. When it is all said and done it is about getting a Democrat in the WH next year.

I can accept the faults with my chosen candidate. But when the same faults are discovered in other candidates their supporters refuse to listen and accept the same criticism.

A minority of the posts are more like throwing a stick of dynamite over the fence and running without staying to see the outcome.

I contacted a DUer yesterday by PM about a discussion point and asked a question about how she was going to consider other Dem candidates who had the same stance as Clark. She responded by threatening to alert the Moderators about me and that PMs were not supposed to be used for discussions. I was threatened for asking a ligitimate question! Wow that really shocked me. My question wasn't even phrased with a hostile or angery tone.

Now, 2 b fair most of the people I PMed yesterday were very cool and we had a dialog. It was civil and I understood their positions. As a matter of fact after one response I too thought about moving to another country.

But it seems that those who dish can't take and that is not what I thought DU was all about.

I love DU and will continue to donate because the majority of the folks are my kind of people. It is the few that are the mirror image of right-wingnuts that make it a tough place to share ideas.

[Tinoire]

26. You have a valid point there- but it's not just DU

I keep an eye on a few other boards and have noticed the same thing.

We have a lot of very passionate people on the internet this election time. Some are very young and are very excited about this, their first important election; some of us, of all ages, are just plain cement-headed because we are so emotionally invested in this election and in our candidate to the point of projecting our own desires on them.

This is on all the message boards and the nature of this passionate election.

Just hang in there. I've experienced your same frustration lately and am not happy at all about the change in tone brought about by a few consistently unpleasant... hmmm... more right-wing people who are so intellectually impoverished that all they can do is shout, belittle and insult.

The board is richer for people like you :)regardless of whom you're supporting, because of your sincerity.

Do not go gently into the night....

[Rose Siding]

14. The DNC has a blog

Kicking Ass:

http://www.democrats.org/blog/

[Entente]

17. Washington Post

http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/liveonline/messageboards/


Try the WP Message boards. They are moderated and the convo can be civil most of the time.

[Tracer]

18. Well, you could try ...

... the Atlantic's "Post & Riposte".

It seems to be populated with both left and right.

My criticism of it would be that there isn't a great range of topics (mostly culled from the magazine).

However, the posters there are quite intelligent and clever (aside from a few Neanderthalic wingers).

[AntiCoup2K4]

23. Come to "The War Zone"

http://www.diamonddavidleeroth.com/forums">The War Zone

Yeah, I know the name sounds suspicious. It was a forum set up initially to discuss the "war on terra" but has since evolved into a general political discussion. Viewpoints range from socialist Greens to Freeper psycho with some centrists in between, but unfortunately the rightwingers seem to have the numbers at the moment. Some additional voices of sanity would be welcome :-)

[aquart]

24. Please define "centrist"?

People use terms very loosely around here. What, precisely, do you mean?

[ShimokitaJer]

25. I guess what I really want is "neutral" or "non-partisan"

"Centrist" just seems to be an acceptable way of saying "non-liberal but still reasonable" here on DU. I had hoped that what I was looking for would be clear from the content of my message, if not from the title.

So, what I'm really looking for is a place for civil discussion where participants are not rejected on the basis of political views but are rejected on the basis of inflammatory remarks, personal abuse, and ad hominem attacks.

Yes, I'm looking for Wonderland. So sue me.

[Desertrose]

27. I know what you mean

not sure it exists...

we are all so "charged" by the nature of what has gone down the past few years...so many are acting purely on emotion and reflex -and yes we have been programmed by the fear,too...that it is very hard to mentally take that step back , take a deep breath and THEN begin the dicussion.....

I wish you good luck...and I hope you return to DU every once in awhile...
Peace
DR

[Rich_W]

28. Try this place:

http://www.freeconservatives.com/ubbthreads/

[Zorra]

29. Is that link sponsored by the RNC?

It sure looks like it.

[Screaming Lord Byron]

31. Hmm. Now why would you be putting that up?

[Selwynn]

30. DU = 70% garbage, 30% pure gold

A more centrist site is still going to have people who are devoted to their candidate and defensive about any criticism.

I think what you are saying however, is that these boards tend to bring out the most paranoid, the most hostile and the most venomous in people, and I agree. It is an "extremist" board. Not because people believe in honest to god compassion towards the poor, equality for woman, blacks, whites, gays, etc., cooperate accountability, real fiscal discipline, the reclamation of our civil rights and an end to imperialism...

..no, those are the things that make you a democrat period. If we can't share those in goals, we don't share the party in common. The difference here is that people are more interested in flaming each other and bashing right wing extremists and "hating" republicans and mass stereotyping everyone who disagrees with them, and looking through paranoid eyes at the whole world that's out to get them and berating anyone who disagrees than they are in actually working with any of the issues I mentioned above.

So is there some sight that isn't like that? If there is, I haven't found it. I don't want a site that is politically centrist. I want a honest-to-god progressive site (which I'd say this is in general) that collectively has a maturity level higher than that of an eight year old (which I would say this does not, more often than not). But this is the internet, largely populated by youth, and a place where the anonymity of not having to look the other person in the eye and justify what you just said leads to people feeling free to say the stupidest or most vile things with impunity.

In other words, I think this is just the cost of participating in an internet forum. After about a year here, my impression is that Democratic Underground is about 70% garbage and 30% gold. But its that 30% of gold that makes everything worth it to me.

[Blue_Roses]

32. true...

when it comes to internet forums. So many people are just looking for a place to voice their frustrations or other emotions.

I want a honest-to-god progressive site (which I'd say this is in general) that collectively has a maturity level higher than that of an eight year old (which I would say this does not, more often than not). But this is the internet, largely populated by youth, and a place where the anonymity of not having to look the other person in the eye and justify what you just said leads to people feeling free to say the stupidest or most vile things with impunity.

I agree and I often wonder-- are some of the idiotic comments by someone who is old enough to vote and how long have they been politically active. I love the wealth of information I get here at DU and I have come to recognize the names of those who I "respect" and apprecitate by their honest opinions and knowledge. But it takes time observing.

[blm]

33. I've found quite a few NEO-centrists here. Ever listen

to them compromise their formerly staunch, unmovable liberalism to support a very centrist candidate?

[ThirdWheelLegend]

35. hey!

It's what's best for the campaign!

:P

[kerry-is-my-prez]

34. Here's one that I post on sometimes

http://uspolitics.about.com/mpboards.htm

It has both Dems and Repubs.