We need to punch back against the extremes of both the left and the right and define the terms of the debate ourselves.

Avlon is married to Margaret Hoover the great-granddaughter of President Herbert Hoover and author of American Individualism. His essay on the attacks of September 11 The Resilient City was selected to conclude the anthology Empire City: New York Through the Centuries and won acclaim from Fred Siegel the author of The Future Once Happened Here as "the single best essay written in the wake of 9/11. Personal life
After the attacks of September 11th Avlon and his team were responsible for writing the eulogies for all New York City FirefightersNew York City Police Officers Port Authority Police Officers and other emergency workers killed in the destruction of the World Trade Center.

Former President Bill Clinton said that the book Wingnuts "offers a clear and comprehensive review of the forces on the outer edges of the political spectrum that shape and distort our political debate. He is the author of Independent Nation: How Centrists Can Change American Politics which critically appraises both traditional American centrism and the more recent radical centrism.