Centrists: Better Things Aren't Possible

[Celerity]

Third Way’s strategy session for Democratic moderates lacked any vision other than a hatred for progressives.

https://prospect.org/2026/03/10/centrists-better-things-arent-possible-democrats-south-carolina-third-way/


Democratic strategist Jim Messina, right, speaks as Third Way President Jon Cowan listens during Third Way’s “Winning the Middle” conference, March 2, 2026, in Charleston, South Carolina. Credit: Meg Kinnard/AP Photo

A group of Democratic Party moderates gathered in Charleston, South Carolina, last Sunday and Monday for an event organized by Third Way, an influential group in the party’s moderate wing. The event, entitled “Winning the Middle,” brought together elected officials, prominent pundits, data gurus, communication savants, and industry figures with one goal in mind: how to block a progressive from winning the party’s nomination for president in 2028. The event’s speakers celebrated their claim that a similar conference hosted by Third Way in the same location back in 2019 helped power Joe Biden—whom they touted as “the most conservative Democrat in the 2020 field”—to the White House, recalling that South Carolina served as both the last refuge of and launching pad for the then-former vice president’s flailing presidential campaign. With Democratic popularity at an all-time low, Third Way’s event hoped to galvanize a moderate resurgence and stave off any potential progressive insurgency.

What is immediately apparent watching the event is a total lack of any positive vision. Rather than propose a worked-out centrist platform, or even suggest opposition to the Trump administration, the event largely defined itself in opposition to the progressive wing of the Democratic Party.

The invite-only event (which was also broadcast on YouTube for me, and approximately 15 others, to watch live) opened with Third Way’s president, Jonathan Cowan, explaining that those gathered at the event stood opposed to, among other things, “open borders,” “modern monetary theory,” “land acknowledgments, identity politics, cancel culture, and more.” The goal of the gathering, as explained by Cowan, was to rebuild the Democratic Party into one that “can win the middle anytime, anywhere.” Winning, if the speakers are to be believed, is trivially simple. The only thing standing in the way of a resurgent Democratic Party that can win across the country—both in blue states and red—is a progressive wing that had soured the public on the Democratic brand.

Cowan’s agenda was almost entirely negative, focused above all on what his group is against. Explaining their health care vision, Cowan said that the assembled luminaries stood for “universal health care under the ACA, not Medicare for All and the end of private insurance.” While Cowan adopted the left’s rhetoric of “universal health care,” he failed to note that the Affordable Care Act not only has not achieved universal health care, but also only became net popular seven years after its passage, following an attempted repeal by the first Trump administration. The ACA was an improvement in many ways, but it was hardly the easy messaging win Cowan was making it out to be.

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[LearnedHand]

1. Yeah fuck these guys

If our elected dems listen to them we are well and truly fucked forever. Sheesh.

[msongs]

2. I liked Loggins and...Messina. nt

[Celerity]

3. I have detested the political consultant Jim Messina ever since he signed on with the David Cameron & the Tories in 2013

and went on to work with them again under Theresa May. He also worked for the RW Mariano Rajoy in Spain.

[appmanga]

4. I thought "Third Way" was a conglomeration of Republicans AND Democrats...

...and not just the "moderate wing" of the Democratic Party. In any case, it seems like rank and file Democratic voters have no use for "Third Way" and it's Republican-lite policies and outlook.

[Celerity]

6. No, this Third Way is centrist Democratic think tank founded in 2005. It is the continuation to a degree of the old DLC

Last edited Thu Mar 12, 2026, 10:43 PM - Edit history (1)

You might be thinking of the bipartisan centrist Problem Solvers Caucus in the US House, who have both Dems and Rethugs. Most all Problem Solvers who are Dems would be supported by Third Way, the think tank, as they (PS Dems) are also mostly, if not all, anti-progressive Democrats.

[Fiendish Thingy]

5. I hope a list of Third Way endorsed candidates is published

So I can donate to their primary opponents.

[angrychair]

7. These people are in their own bubble

This is NOT where rank and file Democrats are at nor where the majority of the people are at right now. People want a more progressive candidate.

All I have to say about that. I've learned that on certain topics it's just better to keep your opinion to yourself.

[leftstreet]

8. The 90s called

Ugh. Third Way is so irrelevant, and they can't rebuild that brand.