Why A View from the Center”?
Because Most Americans, Believe It or Not, Are Moderates and Don’t Get Heard Enough
I’ve spent the last few years in what has often felt like a quixotic journey to prove that politicians and the national news media are misleading Americans and making us believe that we are hopelessly polarized.
“A View from the Center” is here to show that’s not true, and to highlight how Americans have a shared identity, agreeing on much more than they disagree.
From that perspective, I write common-sense opinion pieces about all sorts of issues, mostly politics and foreign policy (with sports and pop culture sprinkled in), looking always at where the moderate majority of Americans stand. You can sample almost 100 columns on this site, including two representative ones that call on for people to stop attacking each other as fascists and socialists.
As I have argued (including here and here, columns that more extensively describe the site’s approach), I firmly believe that Americans have far more common ground that unites us than disagreements that divide us. That’s supported by extensive polling and a new study that shows most of us are moderates who are willing and able to differ philosophically while maintaining respectful behavior toward one another. The moderate majority sometimes leans right, others left. My columns will reflect that.
However, “A View from the Center,” is an illustrative title and should not be taken literally. Its objective is not to find an absolute midpoint between the extremes on every issue. The moderate majority leans right on some issues and leans left on others. But, to put it bluntly, no middle exists when it comes to confronting bigotry, fascism, communism, and threats to American democracy.
That said, I’m no Pollyanna and recognize the U.S. faces serious challenges from people on the extremes. A small percentage of Americans on the right still support the actions of the rioters on 1/6. Some on the left support public ownership of the means of production and distribution. Despite his later denials, Former President Trump called for the “termination” of parts of the U.S. Constitution, but so do the Democratic Socialists of America, who refer to it as “ossified.” Polls show politics are dividing friends, and most college students say they wouldn’t marry someone who voted for the other party.
Who Am I?
I am a longtime journalist and lawyer. You might have seen me on your TVs as a network news anchor and correspondent for ABC (where I was “Good Morning America’s news anchor), NBC, and Al Jazeera. Or you might have caught me as a local anchor and reporter in New York, Los Angeles, Chicago, and Miami, for CBS, NBC, Fox, Univision, and Telemundo. I have also worked as a columnist, university professor (I’m currently the Wolfson Chair in Communication at the University of Miami’s School of Communication, where I’m also the faculty adviser for The Miami Hurricane newspaper), and online news publisher. I try to forget that I worked at law firms in New York and Caracas.
I have reported from most states and four continents, covering nearly every conceivable news event. I’ve moderated senatorial, gubernatorial, and congressional debates in Illinois and Florida, a I’ve interviewed all kinds of newsmakers: presidents and royalty, athletes and movie stars, heroes and criminals. But I’ve learned most from the hardworking people who strive to realize the American dream.
I am an old-fashioned journalist who has always attempted to be objective and fair. Have I always succeeded? Of course not. Will I always succeed? No. But I’ll keep trying. Do I have biases? Certainly, but I do my best to recognize them. One big one: I am Cuban born and partially raised in Venezuela, so I can’t completely escape the perspective of an immigrant who loves his adopted country.
One bias I don’t have is that, unlike most national journalists, I have spent most of my life outside the media centers of Manhattan’s West Side, D.C.’s Beltway, or Hollywood.
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