Reply #25: The elephant in the middle of the donkey's room.

[Mechatanketra]

Americans are increasingly critical of President Bush and broadly dissatisfied with the Republicans who have controlled Congress for a decade {...} But congressional Democrats {...} have problems, too. They get an overall rating just somewhat less negative than the GOP.

We've been seeing this pattern -- "People dislike the GOP but for some reason that's not translating into a boost for the Dems" -- for at least 3 years now, and you'd think the logical conclusion would sink in: if a minus for them isn't a plus for you, it means that people don't see you as the opposite of the minus.

Dems are going to lose and keep losing until they realize that they need to seek the MEDIAN, not the "center". The winning margin isn't in the ~25% of the country that's currently voting Republican, but in the ~50% of the country that doesn't see a reason to vote at all.