Not necessarily. I've been called a political moderate. Heck, I've been called a sellout because my personal politics don't fit neatly on the checkboxes on either side's surveys.
I understand politics enough to understand that it is the art of compromise, and that the public is generally wary of extreme views. Now, on the 2nd Amendment, things are a little different.
We've never been given the chance to
compromise. We've simply endured having things taken away without recourse. Aguila Blanca's link to the LawDog post is very illustrative of this.
When I'm asked about compromising on the 2A, I point out that the NICS system was just that. It can't be proven to have done much good in reducing crime, it presents a great inconvenience to the law-abiding, and to some, it denies the 2A altogether due to administrative errors.
As for the "holster rattling," yeah. I've heard plenty of it. In fact, I've heard some truly horrifying things said that shouldn't be said even in jest. The ironic thing is, most of it comes from folks who can't even be troubled to vote.
The majority of voters in this country could be considered moderates, and they're leery of extremist sloganeering. We need those folks on board, and both sides of the political spectrum would do well to heed that when they're resorting to cheap shots and scare tactics.