[Torie]

Something happened to Zell. He didn't admit it, but Zell himself changed. I suspect he is like those that struggled, back when, as inconvenient empirical evidence piled up, to explain with ever more complexity, that the Earth was the center of the universe; and then finally he realized that the Rube Goldberg model was a lie, and it was time to go back to more straight forward, more simple, and and thus more "elegant" models (I love that word, elegant, it is one of the most splendid in our language), to rationalize the accumulated evidence, that the earth itself orbited around the sun, rather than the reverse. At that point, the inherently unstable house of cards came tumbling down, and it was time to build a new structure, from the foundation up.

[Diddle E. Squat]

IF the President wins re-election, the House is held, and control of the Senate is expanded, so that the Dems perhaps actually become so demoralized that they have to jettison some of the current leadership, do you think Zell will work to reshape the Dems towards a more middle course, or just fade into the background? Enough of a redirection to attract over some econ conserv/social libertine/medical safety net moderate Republicans? Or will the Obama's just move up and put a new face on the same charade?