EDITORIAL GOVERNING FROM THE CENTER WHERE HAVE ALL THE MODERATE, MAINSTREAM POLITICIANS GONE?

ROMAN poet Horace spoke true when he preached of moderation in all things. Too bad the wisdom of keeping to the middle has failed so spectacularly in California politics.

Indeed, the moderate politician is becoming as rare as a sincere conversation in Sacramento. That's because the resistance to competitive races effectively weeds out all but the most zealous party hacks in both the Democratic and Republican parties.

And at the end of the year, Sacramento will lose at least one more middle-of-the-road representative, San Fernando Valley Assemblyman Keith Richman, a physician who lost his bid for the Republican nomination for treasurer.

Other moderates were blocked from advancement as well in the June primary election. For example, Controller Steve Westly lost the Democratic gubernatorial nomination to hard-core partisan Phil Angelides. And Republican state Sen. Abel Maldonado lost the GOP nomination for state controller to Assemblyman Tony Strickland, whose narrow base within the party makes him at best a long shot to win in November.

Even a wildly popular pol like Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger faced retribution for consorting with the Democrats and for his chronic moderation. The California GOP actually considered not endorsing him, even though he's the only thing the GOP has got going for it in California politics.

Poll after poll has shown that most Californians, like most Americans, are politically moderate. Yet, increasingly politicians who stay moderate or, even worse, try to find common ground with their political rivals, find themselves shut out by their own parties and cast aside for the pure party line believers.

And the parties have been hijacked by the various moneyed influence peddlers -- the corporate lobbyists, the public-employee unions, the religious fanatics, the social activists, the Indian casinos, the private industry associations, the trial lawyers.

The moderate politician is a dying breed in Sacramento, and will be gone in a few short election cycles unless the fundamental process is changed.

The first step is a commitment to create an independent redistricting panel, something virtually every state politician professes to support, but few do much to bring about. Until congressional and legislative districts are not rigged so as to provide for the easy election of one party or the other, there will be little reason for candidates of either party to reach across the aisle.

And despite opposition from both parties, an open primary system must be introduced that will let voters pick the candidates who actually represent their interests, the candidates who come from the sensible center.

Most of all it's up to the silenced majority of voters to speak up and demand government that is open, honest and reflective of mainstream values.

Indeed, the future of California depends on reining in the excesses of the political extremes and electing officials who actually will try to solve problems rather than create them.