Dead Center - The Republican establishment courts the left and repudiates the right.

◼ Republican columnists are already urging their fellow party members to nominate a centrist for the 2012 presidential race. - The American Conservative

...Republicans try hard to avoid controversy. They are happy with lackluster moderates... Republicans aren’t likely to win by running as low-octane Democrats. Moreover, the more they imitate the opposition even while attacking it, the more likely they will drive the vital center of political debate toward the left. GOP candidates have been pursuing what is generally a no-win strategy for decades, by trying to sound like Democrats while throwing mud at the opposition. Equally silly has been their tendency to blame the other party for doing what Republican administrations have been doing almost as frenetically: engaging in massive deficit spending, monetizing wars, and giving away lots of patronage. Listening to Fox News and Republican politicians, one gets the impression that all runaway federal spending began the day Obama took office. Parties that market such moonshine, while offering little in the way of significant change, are not likely to look believable. That may be why even in the face of declining numbers for the Democrats, the Republicans have not been gaining in popularity.... A good read.