Rich, I got email from the same person a few weeks ago (although it was a tad angrier). I think his notion that social conservatism is what has hurt the GOP in the Midwest is pretty hard to sustain. Of course there are some voters who have left the party over social issues over the years, just as there are others who have come over to it. But social issues were much lower profile in 2006 than in 2004 or 2002, when Republicans did better. Iraq, corruption, and incompetence weren’t the fault of the late Jerry Falwell.