Reply #15: I still think a third player is coming to the table

[OmahaBlueDog]

Someone (my money is on Michael Bloomberg, and has been for sometime) will try to take their half out of the middle in 2012. Their argument will be "Dems too far left...GOP has gone crazy right..we need common sense." They will try to build on what Ross Perot did in '92, and actually build a party, rather than just run for President. The difference (if this comes to pass) is that they will build this party around existing politicians, rather than trying to reinvent the wheel. The party that weill emerge will be something like Republican lite - fiscally conservative, but socially moderate to liberal. So they will support a balanced budget amendment, but also be pro-choice. It will provide a home for folks like Bailey-Hutchison, Webb, the-soon-to-be-former-Governator, Crist, Ben Nelson, Lieberman, and a host of others.