A Fleeting Majority?

Another article appeared in the Times yesterday about the apparent extinction of the "Yankee Republican." The New England Republican effectively died as a politically viable faction of the GOP.

Consider New Hampshire: a fairly solidly red state, though really more libertarian than anything else (live free or die! or both, seeing as there is no helmet law for motorcyclists in NH). "In New Hampshire, before the election, the State House of Representatives had had a majority of Democrats only once in 132 years, in 1922; the Senate had been Democratic only twice, in 1912 and 1998." Both houses now have Democratic majorities.

As the article notes, this is a shame. Gary L. Rose, a professor of politics at Sacred Heart University in Fairfield, Conn: “The Republican Party has lost a very important voice internally, too, and that only further exacerbates the polarization between the parties. Something’s going to be lost here in American politics without their voice.”

But also - and this seems to be my pet topic - it's a warning for the Democratic Party. The reason that New England went entirely for the Dems is that all of the moderates - and there are many - all went to the Democrats. This means that if the Democrats go too liberal or if the GOP fronts a centrist in '08, the blue majority could disappear just as fast as it appeared.

So, what do we progressives have to say about that? I'm still working on it...