I was going to make that point about Dems and the war too, but Ramesh beat me to it (I guess I was distracted by my efforts for Senator Gavora). Instead I’ll follow-up on Ramesh’s point. It does really seem like the Democrats are in a mad dash to become a rump party. The argument seems to be that since their base wasn’t energized, the Democrats should now placate their base by becoming more stridently anti-war and pro-tax. But the whole reason so many of those races were as close as they were is that both parties were fighting over moderates and centrists. It’s entirely possible the Dems could have picked up more vote from the base if they’d campaigned from the Left more, but we don’t know how many moderate Democrats that would have cost them as a result. If Nancy Pelosi becomes the new face of the Democratic Party, sure the base may get energized, but the Democrats will lose even more white men and give Bush more than enough maneuvering room in the center. Bill Clinton may have become a darling of the left because he grew to symbolize sexual liberation and because of his enemies. But he won elections because he positioned himself as a “different kind of Democrat.” Judging from the election results it already seems like the White House is forever off-limits to non-Southern Democrats. If they choose to self-radicalize, they will definitely become the rump party.