[Catalonia]

A vicious circle sets in. Moderates, repelled by the liberal stances of the Democratic Party, will move to Republican ranks and abandon their Democratic affiliation.

Not quite. It's more like moderate Democrats move into the ranks of Independents and vote for moderate Republicans, and right-of-center Independents actually become Republicans for the first time. That's what I'm seeing, anyway.

[Capt. Jake]

In the old days, Democrats swithced to being Republicans, not independents. Think Reagan, Kirkpatrick, Phil Gramm, etc. I think (hope) that will continue to happen.