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Trying to argue left vs right is peeing in the wind. It is all in the eyes of the beholder. I moved from San Francisco to Indiana at one point. I went from a conservative to a liberal without changing one point of view. What changed was the point of view of those around me. Because of this I realized that it is impossible to say who is liberal or conservative other the more extreme portions. I firmly believe that the majority of people are more centrist. The problem that I see is the parties are becoming more and more ruled by the extremes on both sides and abandoning the center. To some degree I feel that a large part of the current political unrest is because many if not most Americans feel that neither party speaks for them. By all accounts Bayh was a centrist. He is just the last in a long line of centrists to leave both parties. My biggest pessimism is that this will continue and nothing will get done. Things such as regulating derivatives which now even Greenspan says needs some regulation. Whether you believe in climate change or not, we do need to advance forward on energy from something other than hydrocarbon. We need this for cutting the influence of the middle east oil states if nothing else. Our economy is still shaky at best. We have to get the deficits under control. That will require higher taxes and cutting spending including entitlement programs. All of these are large and tough issues. They will never be solved by Washington unless both sides decide that governing is more important than being in the government.
