About voting trends
In the wake of the overwhelming Democratic victory in the 2008 election, many pundits have rushed to present the notion that America is a "center-right" country. They argue that the votes offer no justification for a liberal mandate for the incoming Obama administration. That's just sour grapes combined with more Republican obfuscation. This map from the NY Times showing by county whether Americans voter more Democratic or more Republican than in 2004 shows a clear trend.
DailyKos has some good analysis. As many writers point out, America is, in fact, a nation of Moderates, who can shift to right or left politically, but not so much to extremes. Since Reagan's election in 1980, the pendulum has swung as far to the right as it could go. I think the evidence points to a sustained swing to the left for many years to come — provided the Democrats do a better job of running the country than the Republicans did. That shouldn't be too hard.
