Actually, voters are purging the center-right. The Republicans are so extreme that they've artificially moved the "center" to where their party used to be. Not one Democrat that I can think of is anywhere near as extreme in his or her leftism as the Republican base has forced their representatives in Congress to be on the right. Al Franken? He's a classic old-style liberal. Even Bernie Sanders, a card-carrying Socialist, is classically liberal. There are no bomb-throwers that I can see among the Dems. (Which, I think, is part of their problem!)
The excerpts below is from commentary on Yahoo's political blog that, while sounding pessimistic about the pending gridlock and falsely blaming both parties equally, has some encouraging news for Dems: the independents Repubs relied on to take back the House don't want more of the same old shit, which is exactly what Repubs are loudly proclaiming is in store for us all.
http://news.yahoo.com/s/yblog_exclusive/20101122/pl_yblog_exclusive/impact-of-midterm-elections-most-americans-bet-on-gridlock...
"The idea that there will be any kind of bipartisan cooperation is naïve," says Greg Valliere, chief political strategist for Potomac Research Group. "Both parties are purging moderates who have had the temerity to compromise; we've never seen such a vacuum in the center."
...
If gridlock is the order of the day, however, Americans are far less in agreement over whether that's good or bad. By large majorities, registered voters who are Democrats or independents tend to see it in a negative light: some 67 percent of Democrats and 57 percent of independents say that they believe gridlock is a bad thing, as it will keep good legislation from being passed.
By contrast, a hefty share of Republican registered voters have a positive view of gridlock. Some 43 percent of GOP respondents said they thought gridlock was a good thing, because it means bad legislation fails. That's roughly the same number of Republican registered voters, at 42 percent, who think that gridlock is bad.
...
The numbers underscore the difficulties ahead for President Obama as the White House regroups and attempts to redefine an agenda on which it can find some middle ground with the newly empowered Republicans in Congress. Given the Democrats' much diminished strength, that will be difficult. Moreover, having been amply rewarded at the polls for largely refusing to go along with Obama's priorities for the past two years, many GOP leaders see little reason to change course.
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