I couldn't have said it better.
Thank you.
I should have added one more thing, however: 9/11.
We had a brief glimpse of the electoral outcome for several months in late 2001. While Red America went to church and prayed fervently for the president, Blue America caucused to try and figure out how to undermine him and "his" war on terror. But they knew they couldn't appear to be 1960's radical anti-warriors. They emerged with a strategy that said "it is PATRIOTIC to challenge the war and the president".
On Tuesday Red America made it clear they saw "patriotic anti-war/anti-Americans" as nothing more than "lipstick on a pig". Kudos to Vice President Dick "BigTime" Cheney for hitting the nail on the head.