ABSTRACT
Why would Senator Goldwater have beseeched us: "Extremism in defense of liberty is no vice!"? One conjecture is that this cri de coeur arose from the belated recognition of a common belief that people whose attitudes tend toward the farthest limit are unsound. After all, the balanced mind is supposed to carefully appraise ideas before uttering them. Appreciating this, the ambitious politician of overweening principle and uninhibited tongue must combat the inference in the mind of the electorate that extremism is a disqualification for high office. Whether or not people do in fact equate moderation with sound thinking, there is rather good empirical evidence that in groups, they often exert a moderating influence on extreme members. Group members taking fringe positions are usually persuaded (or at least act as though they are persuaded) to the majority position.
