Are we saying moderate is being The Negotiator between the sides of an issue, considering all sides and being all Buddhah-like about it?

Or Are we saying that being a moderate is just being towards the middle on the spectrum of opinion about an issue? Like, for example, instead of being Abortions are Evil or Banning Abortion is Evil, one thinks that abortion is okay in some circumstances, but shouldn't be used as "accident management" and so limitations should be placed on it. I'd say that's a more moderate viewpoint on the subject. Some people can be very passionate about a middle-spectrum opinion (ask me about food animal issues some time )

Of course part of the problem with the term "moderate" is that you're trying to give an entire spectrum one definitive word. When one thinks of "liberal" or "conservative" (right or wrong), one imagines a particular polarized portrayal to then build from. There isn't really such a thing for moderates (that I can think of). I'd have to think that either of the two scenarios above would be the closest thing to it, but it's still so open-ended about specific opinions on issues that it's hard to define.

And, of course, humanity does like to put things in boxes which explains why people love to polarize...