In our polarized politics, the center has too long been viewed by the noisy extremes as a shrinking island of quiet groans and acquiescence -- but 2016 has changed that. A new, active center is finally mobilizing to fight the far right and far left at their own game.  Amen to that.

Tired of watching interest groups control primaries, and members holding safe seats control the House floor, centrists have decided to use the same tools as partisans to influence outcomes at the ballot box and in Congress.

Under the leadership of No Labels, several of the nation’s leading CEOs coalesced to fund $50 million in super PACs aiming to elect problem-solving candidates and defeat obstructionists.

Former Gov. Jon Huntsman, co-chairman of the group, said they decided to build defensive mechanisms to protect the “unclaimed real estate” of the center lane in American politics because “that is the only place where deals are done and problems are solved,” now or ever.

A No Labels pilot program was successful in two primary races this summer. In one, Freedom Caucus member Rep. Tim Huelskamp was defeated by Dr. Roger Marshall, whose campaign used data and targeting to drive up turnout among more moderate and independent voters. The margin of victory was nearly 13 points.

While most Americans identify as center-right or center-left, they too often face a vote between two extremes. “People are choosing between candidates who aren’t in the mainstream,” said Mark Penn in his presentation at the No Labels conference in Washington, D.C., last week. Penn, a former adviser to President Clinton and founder of the Stagwell Group, noted it takes approximately 10 million people, who are traditionally engaged partisans, to elect a primary candidate. That’s one in 32 people -- in a population of 320 million. “The system is locking out moderates because of the way it’s designed,” he said.

While the planning for this new effort began last spring, long before a Donald Trump presidency came into view, the president-elect’s non-ideological agenda may provide fertile ground for compromise between the two parties for those willing to buck strictly liberal and conservative orthodoxy.

Indeed, party loyalty -- which has succeeded in running the government aground in recent years -- will be tested as never before in a Trump administration. Many Republicans already disagree with the president-elect on infrastructure spending, entitlement reform, tariffs and trade. Democrats will feel the whip too, as their defeated party appears determined to tilt further leftward, eschewing a course correction. There could be a heavy price paid by any member trying to compromise with Trump.

Rep. Kurt Schrader (D-Ore.), a co-founder of the No Labels Problem Solvers Caucus in Congress, pointed to the 21st Century Cures legislation as the most recent example of why courageous lawmakers in the center need support. Schrader called the bill a good compromise with overwhelming support, but it faced opposition from the far left, including Sens. Elizabeth Warren and Bernie Sanders. Though the bill contains “significant reforms to our mental health system,” said Schrader, liberals were opposed because it doesn’t address high drug prices and is perceived as a sell-out to Big Pharma.  In the end, it passed the Senate last week; having already been approved by the House, the bill moved on to President Obama, who is expected to sign it.

 “When you take these moderate positions you lose the so-called big funders,” Schrader said, whether big labor or environmental groups on the left or the Heritage Foundation and Club for Growth on the right. “You need a super PAC that has your back.”

Protecting members who take risks to compromise, he noted, “not only gives No Labels an opportunity to advance better policies but to do so in a more bipartisan, more thoughtful, most lasting and civil way.”

Rep. Tom Reed (R-N.Y.), co-chair of the bipartisan Problem Solvers Caucus, agreed: “So many members want to do the right thing, but they are so afraid of those forces that are out there that are heavily financed. Now they will have people standing with them with real resources and real defenses.”

The No Labels leadership aims to assemble between 20-25 House members from the nearly 80- member Problem Solvers Caucus “who are willing to take hard votes from the right and the left, who could be a critical bloc that could heavily influence the agenda and beyond,” said Reed.

No Labels has chosen four goals, known as the National Strategic Agenda, that are universally popular: creating 25 million new jobs over the next decade, securing Medicare and Social Security for the next 75 years, making America energy independent by 2024 and balancing the federal budget by 2030. The path to any of those goals is unknown -- and Trump may not want to address any entitlement changes during his presidency -- but all enjoy broad bipartisan support in polling, and No Labels has developed 60 policy proposals to accomplish them.

Being a “Problem Solver” always sells great at home, but members of the caucus will now have to earn it. Reed and Schrader said they are likely to enforce a new litmus test next year of minimum attendance at meetings, some support for most legislation that advances the four main goals, and willingness to disrupt the status quo on both sides.

Those who exhibit political courage will be rewarded, as No Labels super PACs will target more than two dozen races in the 2018 midterms.

Partisan obstructionists be warned -- the mad middle could be coming for you next.