The Independent Rundown, October 15

Independent Nation gives you the 6 must-reads for independents and centrists for Monday, October 15.

1. “True Progressivism,” in The Economist

It’s time for a  “radical centrist politics” (Amen) that seeks to reinvigorate America like the Progressive movement did in the late 19th century. The right and left alike are stuck in default settings that produce our current “failure of ideas.” In tough times but with our values intact, Americans deserve better.

Read it at The Economist.

2. “Making Mitt: The Myth of George Romney” at BuzzFeed

The key takeaway from this 11,000-word departure from BuzzFeed’s standard digital brew of cat GIFs and political scoops? That the origin myth Mitt Romney has harkened back to of a moment his father strode boldly out of the 1964 Republican National Convention in protest of Barry Goldwater’s extremism may the product of an overheated campaign’s imagination.

Read it at BuzzFeed.

3. “Groups’ Funders Often Reported Long After Spending Has Occurred,” at the Center for Responsive Politics

Want to know who was behind that super PAC ad spewing from your television set? Get ready to wait. While politics moves in real time, many PACs file on a monthly or quarterly basis, meaning that voters suffer a considerable (but still totally legal) tape-delay between the assault on their retinas and when they discover who’s responsible for it.

Read it at OpenSecrets.org.

4. “100 Years Ago Teddy Roosevelt Got Shot in the Chest, Then Gave a Speech Anyway,” at Mental Floss

Talk about an orator. Shot in the chest at a campaign stop by a delusional gunman, Teddy Roosevelt said only that “it takes more than that to kill a Bull Moose” and then proceeded to give a speech that clocked in somewhere between 55 and 90 minutes (estimates vary) of the kind that we all really in our heart of hearts still want to hear. Now that’s a cowboy president.

Read it at Mental Floss.

5. “Reconsidering Obama the Pragmatist,” in The New York Times

Is a failure of philosophical pragmatism at the core of Obama’s failure to deliver on his biggest promises? So asks Harvey Cormier. Hashing out just what me mean when we apply the philosophy to a politician, Cormier says that an approach that seeks cooperation and takes chances shouldn’t be held against the president.

Read it at The New York Times.

6. “Abraham Lincoln: The Great Campaigner,” in Newsweek

Ringed by hostile forces and with the nation all too eager to fall on its own sword, Abraham Lincoln played politics as he always did during his 1864 reelection campaign, swinging with both fists. Political ruthlessness? Call it what you like – it freed the slaves and saved the Union.

Read it at The Daily Beast.

Send questions, comments, queries, or suggestions for the Independent Rundown to Matt DeLuca at matt.deluca@newsweekdailybeast.com. Follow Matt on Twitter: @DeLucaMattS.