The agenda of the democrat party has become increasingly unsaleable to a majority of the electorate. They really don’t have the option to change the agenda, as they pursued a politics of concentrating on the special consitituencies that give them their most intense support: public employee unions, social service providers, grievance identity groups, and the cultural left. These interests will not tolerate any deviation from their agenda. Bill Clinton deployed his remarkable political ability to give them a respite from decline with a narrow political victory, but even that required the presence of Perot, and came at the price of further polarizing the electorate. Today democrats are in a trap. They must inflame their core constituencies to the utmost to make up in the intensity of turnout for what they have lost in general appeal. As they do so, they further remove themselves from the mainstream, and build intensity on the other side, as was seen in California. In these circumstances, the republicans may do better concentrating on getting out their own core vote than on trying to make inroads on democrat constituencies by blurring their message. However, to the extent they can appeal to these constituencies, it can be very rewarding, because the democrats now need in national races, 95% vote plus heavy turnout among these constituencies just to remain competitive.