Forty years ago former American President Richard Nixon popularised the term “the silent majority”, referring to the large number of people in a country who do not publicly express their views. As a group, this majority occupies neither of the extremes along the continuum of political discourse; they are not actively engaged on any level, writing no letters to the Editor nor occupying talk radio airwaves. They observe, silently, they listen; and they vote.The extremists among us play to the unthinking die-hards, wherever they reside, but lack credibility with this silent majority as their positions are necessarily distorted and are demonstrably intolerant of any opposing view. We will see more of this as election fever sets in.I am convinced our silent majority is perceptive and that they analyse dispassionately while caring deeply for our country. They know, for example, that our current economic challenges are largely the result of a global recession of extended proportions but that Government actions have also contributed to it. It defies both logic and fact to witness the devastating effect of the global recession on people worldwide to argue we are the architects of our own economic decline. This majority knows we are not on the brink of disaster but have many questions about where we are going and rightly so.We have a level of discourse today where the views on the extreme tend to dominate things are essentially good or essentially bad, politically. These views bypass each other, rarely engaging, and more importantly, act as if there is some amorphous, sponge-like public ready to embrace the simplistic world described by extremists. Our public is no mere sponge.Bermuda’s silent majority know the real world is no simply construct; it is not the world of black and white and good and bad we knew in our pre-pubescent years. When assessing political parties most Bermudians will see nuance and differences in emphasis as opposed to the stark images conveyed by those on the margins. During the PLP/UBP-era it was commonly accepted the Progressive Labour Party emphasised rights for ordinary people but knew good relations with the business community were essential; likewise, the United Bermuda Party were seen as the party of business but knew it could not ignore the issues of everyday people. No doubt the main thrust of the One Bermuda Alliance will become clear soon.It is important to note that our silent majority has no necessary political leaning. Indeed, it is made up of people of all and no political stripes left, right, centre, PLP, OBA and none of the above. What I believe unites them are two things: (1) a desire to be acknowledged and treated with respect on the political terrain; not to assume how they will vote; not to try to persuade them using emotional banter and (2) a refusal to become actively engaged on the political front, on any level, as long as the rhetoric runs high and the predictable and superficial right-wrong dichotomy remains entrenched.Currently, this silent majority only speaks when there is an election. And this is to be regretted. The more we have sober, reflective comments about our state of affairs and where we should be going, the stronger we will become; the more informative our debates will be; and the less we will hear from the polarising extremists who remain preoccupied with the form rather than the substance of their argument.Walton Brown is a social and political commentator and a prospective Progressive Labour Party canddiate for the House of Assembly. Follow his blog on www.respicefinem1.blogspot.com. He can be contacted at walton[AT]researchmix.com