It has been well over 50 years since any party has had a majority. Since 1944 no party has had more than about 40 percent of the voters. Today it about even one third are Democrats, one third are Repubulicans, and one third are independents. To take control of government a party and its candidates must get their base and over half the independants. Any candidate or party in a two way race that gets less than half the independents will be defeated.
Thus to control the house senate and to be able to select supreme court judges a President and his party must get over half the independents. It escapes many people that if the independents were attracted to the left's positions,they would be leftists. It escapes nearly all the right that if the center was attracted tot he rights positions they would be conservatives.
The independents are neither left or right. They are(GASP) centerist. To attract the center a party and a candidate must paint the other party for what they are. They must paint themselves as being pretty centerist. When Republicans can paint Democrats as lefists and paint themselves as nearly centerist, they win. It is the only time they ever win. The only time teh Democrats win is when they do the same. Can you say "Bill Clinton is a NEW DEMOCRAT?" Golly Gee why did that liberal do that? Once a party has the center and is safely in office it can and always does move the nation in their political direction.
Thus Daschles strategy from the day he took over was to force Bush to move to the right. If bush bent to his base on CFR or the farm bill or lots of other issues Bush and the Republicans would be painted to the right. Then Daschle and company would get painted centerist for pushing centerist issues. The resulting Democrat victory could dictate the Supreme Court and other justics, and get a lot of what they want done. Once Dubya started down that disasterous road they could very well drive him far enough right to cost him 2004. It did not work. Bush turned it on them. He owns the Center and the left is screwed. That Democratic strategy has indeed backfired. It seems like that Bush and the Republicans can hold an unpresidented portion of the center and even some Democrats.
That leaves the Democrats with just one strategy left. That is try to use bush's success with the center to cost him the right. That is a strategy that Democrats and the media have always used with great success. The Democrats have always understood that they have zero chance to change the nation with out the center. So when Bill Clinton ended welfare as the left had loved it, they understood why it had to be done. For if they had cost Bill the Center, then they would have lost it all.
For once we have a president that understands how the system works. Going for the center costs some of the base. But if done right you can pick up far more center than the part of the base that is lost.
Gore did not understand that in 2000. It cost him the presidency. Bush understands it quite well. They right wing philosophy at all cost people have no clout with Dubya. If Bush pulls it off and it looks very much like he will, the defeatist right and the Daschle left will be equally defeated. That is the best news for Republicans since 1924.
IMO, that is why you see some rightwing posts here at FreeRepublic that are based more on propaganda slogans and mind control than on actual Constitutional principle and critical thought. These posts appear to originate from the playbooks of the left -- they try to elicit emotion over reason from our FR patriots.
It sure makes it hard to hold Bushs feet to the Constitutional fire when it is the left with their deceptive slogans that attempts to lead the charge.
Some are so anti-ideological that they will vote against the candidate they perceive as most ideological (left or right).