We have seen several moderate to conservative Democratic members elected to Congress.   Everybody wants to know what that means and what will the Democrats as a whole do now that they are in power.

I will stand with most people and just react to what they do when we cross the first major bridges in 2007.   What I am more interested in is the general idea of this new meme in terms of the recent past.

I found an interesting perspective in all places at the RightWingNutHouse.   The post explains how these Blu-Dogs will shift the Dems to the right.   Some of the Repubs that lost their seats are refered to as RINO's or Rockefeller Republicans.   I think the main idea Mr. Moran is expressing is very logical.

I found the first comment to the article to be of even more significance.  Considering I rarely agree with any of the wingnut ideas, the conservative wish for big government and big business to stay out of our lives is one I find very appealing.

Since many of my liberal friends are like me and hardly ever visit the wingnut sites, I thought this worthy of posting if for nothing else than just the perspective.

RIGHTWING NUTHOUSEThe Slaughter of the Moderates

The most significant result from Tuesday's election may be the stake driven through the heart of the old Rockefeller wing of the GOP. While this faction had been declining in influence and members since 1964, (and as the definition of "moderate" moved further right in the intervening years), the loss of long time members like Sue Kelly ( NY-6 terms), Nancy Johnson (CT-12 terms), Jim Leach (IA-15 terms), and Charles Bass (NH-6 terms) knocked the chocks out from underneath the moderate wing of the GOP, making the party more conservative than at any time in its history.

Charles Krauthammer sees the same thing:

The result is that both parties have moved to the right. The Republicans have shed the last vestiges of their centrist past, the Rockefeller Republicans. And the Democrats have widened their tent to bring in a new crop of blue-dog conservatives.

I realize many modern conservatives viewed these "RINO's" with contempt. But the moderates shared many mainstream Republican values with conservatives like fiscal responsibility, support for a strong national defense, and a love of individual liberty which, in my mind, tended to offset their apostasy on other issues.

From The Comments...

Xenophon Said:   8:12 am

Tears for the Rockefeller wing? Surely, you jest? This crowd was the holdover from the founding members of the 19th century party…the old oil and railroad barons who cared not a whit for social issues so long as they got their paws on the levers of financial power in Washington. These aristocrats were happy to sell white middle class people down the drain with forced busing, affirmative action and illegal immigration because it was in their financial iterests to do so. Naturally, they never have to worry about the consequences for their children because they inherit millions. If the Democrats are the "rainbow coalition", then the Republican party is now the party of the white middle class. And what we want is autonomy for our people just the same as blacks, American Indians, Asians and any other group desires. We want our own communities where we can raise our children free from the influence of a corrupt multicultural elite, where we call the shots for our kids' education and where we decide what our taxes will be. We want government cut down to size and we want our elected leaders to realize that we don't worship at the alter of either big government or big business. If Bush and his aristocrat bretheren in the Ivy League can't understand this, then perhaps a whiff of revolution will help wrap their addled brains around the concept of "liberty". That may be asking too much of a snotty plutocrat, but we're past the point of asking for anything. We're getting angry.