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One of the hoariest clichés in politics is “move to the center.” Journalists who think of themselves as nonideological often urge both parties to move to the center, as if the center of the political spectrum were devoid of ideology.

So I enjoyed the Op-Ed yesterday, “Move Left, Democrats,” by Steve Phillips, a senior fellow at the Center for American Progress. But I’m not sure I agreed with it.

Phillips argued that Democrats lost more Obama voters to third parties — and to staying home from the polls — than they did to Donald Trump. When the Democratic National Committee chooses its new leader this weekend, it should pick one who avoids the temptations of the political center, Phillips wrote.