IMO, Bush and the GOP leadership pretty much ended the "Reagan Democrats" 20 years of voting for Republicans.
Let's see if these moderate/conservative Democrats truly do vote this way on all of the issues starting next year!
Yes, ignore the independents at your peril.
"The political center forcefully asserted itself in Tuesday's midterms. The national exit poll showed that political independents, who divided their votes evenly between George Bush and John Kerry in 2004, swung decisively in favor of the Democrats. With roughly nine-in-ten Republicans and Democrats casting ballots for representatives of their parties, just as they did two years ago, the Democrats' 57%-39% advantage among independents proved crucial."
Arnold had the message to Republicans, to pay attention to independents.
Schwarzenegger Implores GOP To Follow Script of His Sequel: Court the Center
http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/1736725/posts
"The political center." People who sway with the breeze. No convictions.
Title should be, "Democrats Run AWAY from Liberal Candidates"
The democrats idea of "centralists" are Pelosi, Hitlery, Kennedy. Kerry, Obama, Boxer, Baghdad Jim Mcdermott, Cantwell, Feinstein, Reid, and Rangel.
God help the US till the next elections.
"The political center forcefully asserted itself in Tuesday's midterms."
Road apples. The far right wing of the Republican Party is the political center.
That this statement seems unreasonable merely reflects the distance America has been dragged to the left.
Someone should ask the anti-war protestors: "Got math?"
30,000 US troops died in 3 years under Truman so that the Republic of South Korea could survive.
3,000 US troops died in 3 years under Bush, so that the Republic of Iraq could survive.
Ten times as many troops died under Truman as under Bush.
Therefore, anyone concluding the Republicans lost because they didn't move to the center is dead wrong.