Not conservatives, sweetie, but those who are moderate, a term that seems completely alien to you and your ilk. Nice work with the Enron-style "accounting", by the way, which includes new members from "blue" states who would be awfully surprised to see themselves listed as nutroots lefties; they are joining the centrist Blue Dog Democrats Caucus, *not* your beloved Progressive Caucus. The Blue Dogs will now number 44 member, more than ever. New Blue Dogs include Reps.-elect Mike Arcuri and Kirsten Gillibrand of New York (aren't we a blue state?); Patrick Murphy of Pennsylvania (another blue state); Joe Donnelly, Brad Ellsworth, and Baron Hill of Indiana; Tim Mahoney of Florida; Heath Shuler of North Carolina; and Charlie Wilson of Ohio. As former House Democratic Leader and presidential candidate Dick Gephardt said yesterday (as reported today 11/15 in the St. Louis Post-Dispatch), "you can't win elections or govern effectively by playing only to your respective die-hard supporters on the right or left.. Everyone began to forget about the great middle ... that's still out there and, miraculously, still voting." And in this election, Gephardt said, "people were saying this country is not all divided into one base or another." Maybe you should take it up with him, Morningstar -- but you're probably smugly satisfied that you know better, aren't you?

Gee, looks those new incoming House Democrats must have missed their orientation at the Progressive Caucus, after all. From the Capitol Hill newspaper The Hill:

"Hoyer Wins Majority Leader Post, beating Murtha"

"In a stunning rebuke to incoming House Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-Calif.), House Democrats selected Rep. Steny Hoyer (D-Md.) to be their majority leader Thursday morning in a vote of 149 to 86 even though Pelosi had thrown her weight behind Rep. John Murtha (D-Pa.)"... "a noted Iraq war critic and senior appropriator."

"Hoyer drew on a coalition of soon-to-be committee chairmen, centrists and freshman members to overcome Pelosi's clout with colleagues. Pelosi lobbied both freshmen and returning members this week in an effort to oust her old rival from the leadership. Hoyer and Pelosi waged a bitter battle for minority whip in 2001."

"With the election now settled, Democrats will turn to the hefty task of taking control of the House and pushing their agenda through Congress, but they will carry the baggage of this rancorous campaign. Pelosi's entry into the race effectively drove a wedge into the caucus, weakened their ability to remain unified and infuriated Hoyer's supporters, which include many in the moderate New Democrat Coalition and conservative Blue Dog Coalition."

I'm openly gay -- or lesbian! I'm against the death penalty. I am 100% pro-choice. I'm for gun control. I'm somewhat of a fiscal moderate in that I believe government, including the federal government, should try to spend more or less within its means. I did not, however, come out of the closet about my sexuality simply in order to be shoved into a politically correct closet by intolerant strait-jacketers like you, who direct *their* bile at decent organizations like the Human Rights Campaign; who refuse to acknowledge that the Democratic Party must accommodate and welcome moderates in order to become a true majority party; and who call anyone who disagrees with them "trolls" and demands the removal of comments expressing dissenting views from a blog that is supposed to allow for the free exchange of ideas. That said, have a great Thanksgiving!

It's time to look past bullshit labels like "moderate" and "centrist" and stop running from our shadows. The era of Clinton triangulation and moving to the right wing is over. The electorate hates the free trade policies passed on his watch and the way in which he stacked the party with his sychopants who care more about getting Hillary elected than actually building a viable party.

Centrism is snakeoil, a fig leaf for Republican lite style conservatism and it's time to call it for what it is.