Greenspan Decries Political 'Polarization'

According to The Wall Street Journal:

Freed of the constraints of public office, Alan Greenspan has expanded from commenting on the economy to commenting on politics.

Speaking to a Wall Street gathering Wednesday, the former Federal Reserve chairman decried the "polarization" of American politics and said the ground was ripe for a third-party presidential candidate . . . .

[Mr. Greenspan] describe[d] the two American parties now as controlled by their extreme wings, even though the voting public is far more centrist, people who were present said.

He described the leadership of the parties as "bimodal", meaning clustered at the extreme ideological ends, whereas the voting public was "monomodal", meaning clustered near the middle.

Such situations, he said, create an opening for a third-party candidate who appeals to the center. That, he said, could prompt the candidates of the other two parties to move back to the center, for fear of losing. He said the U.S. political system makes it difficult for a third-party candidate to win.