Are you serious? The true moderates of both parties can swing either way in an election. I'm sure a lot of moderate Republicans would certainly not vote for somebody like Santorum or DeLay.

I used to be a registered Republican (now I'm an independent), and there is absolutely positively NO WAY IN HELL that I would ever even slightly consider voting for somebody like DeLay or Santorum. I don't give a shit who's on the other side - I don't think the best thing for America right now is a bigoted corrupt Nazi.

That's not to say I'd like to cast my vote for somebody like Hillary or Kerry - but if it's one of them versus a right-wing neo-con, I will. Ideally I'll get to vote for a more moderate candidate (from either party).

If the Republicans keep moving to the right they'll find themselves on the other side of the power balance very quickly.