Revolt of the Moderates

E.J. Dionne writes today about a demographic fact that ought to guide Democratic strategists in red states like North Carolina: "America's moderates may not be screaming, but they're in revolt. Many who reluctantly supported the president and the Republicans in 2004 are turning away. The party's agenda on Social Security, judges and the Terri Schiavo case is out of touch with where moderate voters stand. Worse for Bush and his party, most moderates have a practical, problem-solving view of government and think these issues are far less important than shoring up a shaky economy and improving living standards."

I flash on Madame Virginia Foxx grandstanding on C-SPAN during the Schiavo abomination, nodding her head up and down like a dashboard doll on a washboard road, every time a fellow Republican said anything extreme about "the right to life."

Foxx can gloat all she wants to that she's in a "safe" Republican district. She's in a moderate district where people can tell the difference between posturing for the cameras and actually doing something constructive.