America could use young, dynamic centrist leaders like France's Emmanuel Macron Giving centrists like Macron the spotlight can make confrontation less fashionable. Compromise won’t be seen as a dirty word.

Bill Sternberg | USA TODAY

French President Emmanuel Macron took Washington by storm last week, forging a closer relationship with President Trump, winning bipartisan accolades during a democracy-defending speech to Congress, and impressing a small group of us journalists with his command of both world affairs and the English language.

When he was done with the press availability at George Washington University, Macron shed his suit coat and plunged in white shirtsleeves toward an enthusiastic group of students who had assembled outside the meeting room. “We love you!” one young woman shouted. “Thanks,” responded the president of France, who was elected a year ago on a centrist platform that drew ideas from the right and left and appealed to voters disillusioned with the traditional parties.

Macron has his problems back home, where his economic reforms have touched off protests and strikes. But the boisterous scene at the university left me wondering: Where are the charismatic centrists in the United States, the American Macrons if you will?

When I put that question to several political activists and reporters, a couple of them mentioned Mitch Landrieu, the Democratic mayor of New Orleans who gave a well-received speech on race relations last year, hails from a political family, and wowed this spring’s Gridiron Dinner in Washington with his comedic timing and vocal chops.

Beyond that, though, I got mostly blank stares. And that’s a big problem if commonsense centrism is ever going to make a comeback in the United States.

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Yes, I know that seems unlikely at this moment when the two major parties are purging their moderates, when America politics is increasingly tribal, and when the blue team goes home and watches MSNBC and the red team goes home and watches Fox News.

But someday — it’s hard to know when — voters are bound to get fed up with the partisan gridlock and endless bickering that prevents any progress on festering issues such as the deficit, health care and immigration. Confrontation will become less fashionable. Compromise won’t be seen as a dirty word.

Plenty of groups — with names such as No Labels (which spawned the House Problem Solvers Caucus), The New Center, the Bipartisan Policy Center, Unite America and Level the Playing Field — are trying to hasten the arrival of that blessed day. Some are trying to bring Republicans and Democrats together, some are trying to nurture viable third parties, and some are promoting political reforms to break what they call the two-party “duopoly.”

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They already have a potentially receptive plurality. Even in the highly divisive 2016 presidential election, 26% of voters described themselves as liberal, 35% as conservative — and 39% as moderate.

These days, however, you can’t win elections with manifestos and position papers alone. You need money, you need organization and especially, in the reality television era, you need charismatic candidates at the local, state and national levels. No matter how vulnerable an incumbent is, you can’t beat someone with no one.

Two of the best-known centrists — former senator Joe Lieberman and former New York City mayor Michael Bloomberg, are both 76 years old, and neither is Mr. Excitement.

That’s where Macron, 40, comes in. What plays in Paris can also play in Pittsburgh. France’s dynamic leader shows that being centrist doesn’t have to mean being bland.

Bill Sternberg is editor of the editorial page. Follow him on Twitter: @bsternbe