Who are you calling 'extreme'?

[Geee]

Washington Examiner:

Don't you find it odd that the word "extremism" seems to apply only to conservative Republicans? Terminology often drives political discourse, and those who control the terms often determine the outcome.

Establishment Republicans have too often been uncomfortable in their own skin. When they win elections, they sometimes seem unsure of what to do next. Democrats never seem to have this problem. They operate according to their core convictions and are never considered extreme. Instead, they are moderate, even normal. When Republicans stick to their convictions, they are branded with a scarlet "E."

Former Florida Gov. Jeb Bush raised the "extremist" issue last Monday in New York at a breakfast for reporters sponsored by Bloomberg View.

As reported by Jim Rutenberg in the New York Times, Bush said President Reagan and Bush's father, the former president, would have a "hard time" fitting in with a GOP led by the Tea Party movement.

Bush said George H.W. Bush and Reagan would struggle with "an orthodoxy that doesn't allow for disagreement." Bush's father agreed with Democrats on raising taxes, breaking his pledge not to, and was defeated for re-election. Is this the path Jeb Bush recommends for Republicans: agree with Democrats and lose elections?

Why does this approach appear to apply only to Republicans and not Democrats? Congressional Democrats recently had an opportunity to prove their moderation by voting in favor of a bill that would have outlawed sex-selective abortions. Most Democrats (and a few Republicans) refused to vote for the measure.

President Obama favors a legal right to abortion. As a member of the Illinois legislature, Obama refused to support the Born-alive Infants Protection Act, which extends legal protection to an infant born alive after a failed induced abortion, even if the child could not survive. Sen. Obama saw the bill as a roundabout attack on women's abortion rights and voted against it. Extremism?

Can anyone name a top aide to President Obama who is pro-life or who favors less spending, smaller government and lower taxes? Where are the "moderates" in his administration?