John Kerry has been pushing very hard lately on the notion that he is a centrist. The Washington Post has a piece that discusses Kerry's targeting of "swing voters" and disaffected Republicans. This strategy pushes a prevailing centrist theme. The piece also says that Kerry privately reassures his liberal voters that he will continue to support their core issues.

In my opinion, this is a double edged sword. In the end it may push the election to Kerry (although with the beating Bush has rightfully been taking over Iraq and certain sectors of the economy Kerry doesn't have to do much right now to capitalize). This also reinforces the notion though that there isn't much difference between Democrats and Republicans.

This is an irritant to me. I see some very fundamental differences between the parties and between the basic ideologies that each party generally adheres to. While the Republicans tend to be more lock step on their ideas and Democrats tend to be a much more loose affiliation, there are some general themes where the parties don't see eye to eye.

I definitely want to see Kerry win this thing..and I want him to do what it takes to convince voters that he's the guy. But I hope he doesn't do it at the expense of the Democrats being viewed as "Just like Republicans only with a conscience"...or some such.