Interesting piece by Mark Schmitt ( I’ll be doing a bloggingheads TV set-to with him shortly). It’s actually something I’ve though about a bit myself. The idea that Republicans and Democrats are significant ideological designations is a relatively recent change (Some of the worst — i.e. leftist — New Dealer were Republicans). Today conservative Democrat and liberal Republic sound increasingly oxymoronic. Moreover as the power of incumbency increases political responsibility and accountability starts to adhere to parties as a whole. In short, we might be entering an era where we vote Republicans and Democrats into power as a group, and vote them out as a group. Anyway, worth thinking about more.