after a nasty campaign where the conservatives regularly claimed that the democrats were the party of wild-eyed far-left hippies, the sudden appearance of this new claim that the democrats' electoral victory was really a victory for conservatives (or at least conservatives who are labeled "centrists") is really quite amusing.
it's like "heads i win, tails you lose." if republicans win, it gets touted as a victory for conservatism (as bush's victory in 2004 was). and if democrats win, it gets touted as a victory for conservatism. the underlying premise--that this is a deeply conservative country--is the same as the conclusion. it's nice to have a worldview that can withstand even what appears to be the most compelling countervailing evidence. it probably helps them sleep at night, it just doesn't make them seem all that convincing.
