Nicky, what we've been seeing has been skewed by the TV debates. With so many candidates, and so little time for each, there's no room for thoughtful discussion of real issues. Instead, it's a reality show, with each trying to make the maximum (usually meaning radical) impression in 30 or 60 seconds. (One of the reasons Trump is ahead is that he's the only GOP candidate with reality-show experience.) So, they keep pushing each other farther and farther to the right--no on gets points by saying, "I'm a moderate."

The same is happening on the Dem side. Clinton and Sanders pack the audience with their own supporters, and each accuses the other of not being "progressive" (meaning left-wing).

Presidential elections are won from the center of the electorage, not from the far left or far right. Goldwater ('64) and McGovern ('72) proved it. A Gallup poll in 2010 found that 31% of Americans identified as Democrats, 29% as Republicans, and 38% as independents. A 2013 Gallup poll put the number of independents at 42%. We haven't really heard from the American center yet.