The first chart shows us where major groups are. "Democrats" actually cover a larger area but this represents where on the political spectrum the average is: add up all the Democrats and take the arithmetic mean of their opinions, and you'll end up around there somewhere. And this isn't about Democrats, anyway; it's about Republicans, why they don't win, why they don't get much support, and why conservatives are disgusted with them.
Because as you can see, the GOP leadership governs to the left of where the rank-and-file Republicans are. Republicans don't want amnesty for illegal aliens; they don't want massive federal spending, nor huge increases in government education funding, nor any of the other "compassionate conservative" things which the Bush administration gave us, or tried to give us, as this next chart shows.
So how can the GOP win elections and keep its majority? It's pretty simple:
That blue rectangle isn't comfortable for Washington insiders, it is true, because they won't get invited to the parties or have any friends among the press. But this is where a majority of the American people want their politicians to be.
This is why Barack Hussein Obama ran on promises of tax cuts. This is why Clinton ran on promises of tax cuts. This is why Democrats always run towards the center and then govern to the left, always, always, always.
Og got me thinking about this: "If you want the 30% or so of voters that nobody seems to be reaching, you don’t become more liberal, you become more conservative."
Right now no one connects with the voters on the right side of that blue rectangle...except one: Sarah Palin. And that's another reason she scares the everloving shit out of the liberals.