Historically Democratic presidential candidates veer to the left politically and Republicans to the right during the party primary season, but once they have secured the nomination, the candidates of both parties begin courting more moderate voters in the center. Perhaps as a reflection of what the new numbers say, McCain, who has been forced to keep courting conservatives in his own party, last week shook up the highest levels of his campaign staff.
Of course both candidates are moving toward the center. They're learning from Barry Goldwater's experience in '64, and George McGovern's eight years later. Both won their respective nominations through fervent support of a right-of-center (Goldwater) and left-of-center (McGovern) faction in their parties. And both lost by huge margins in the general election because they failed to reach out to the middle--they just preached to the choir.
Even if Obama held onto everyone who voted for him in the primaries, and held most of Clinton's supporters, he still wouldn't have enough to beat McCain in November. He recognizes that he needs to reach out to those who
didn't vote for him, including registered Republicans.
