Triangulation (politics)

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Triangulation is the act of a candidate presenting his or her ideology as being "above" and "between" the left and right sides of the political spectrum. A related term is third way politics.

[edit] Origins during the Clinton years

The term was first used by President Bill Clinton's chief political advisor Dick Morris as a way to describe his strategy for getting Clinton reelected in the 1996 presidential election. Morris advocated a set of policies that were much more liberal than those of the Republican Party, but were also different from the traditional policies of the Democratic Party. Simply stated, accomplishing liberal goals using conservative means. These policies included welfare reform and balanced budgets. Clinton's success in aligning himself somewhat above the hyper-partisan fray that made the late 1990's unique allowed him to be reelected in 1996.

[edit] Use after Bill Clinton

Triangulation was emulated during the 2000 presidential election in the Bush campaign's use of the term "compassionate conservative". The subsequent Bush campaign, however, returned to the 80's tradition of focusing on appealing to more partisan voters using so-called wedge issues.

Other leading politicians who have successfully used the method include Tony Blair with "New Labour" in the United Kingdom and Fredrik Reinfeldt with "The New Moderates" in Sweden.

[edit] Implementation

In order for a politician to successfully "triangulate" an issue, he or she must have a certain amount of charisma. The audience has to believe the politician's stance on an issue or risk being labeled a "flip-flopper" or other derogatory term.