I was pushed to the right by the tea party. Its thoughtless attacks on consensus viewpoints and intellectual culture made me more likely to identify with otherwise offensives centrism and moderation. I have this feeling that if the tea party never existed and McCain was elected, I would be a True Leftist.
Wow, this exactly. The tea party (and the extreme right more so I guess) is increasingly turning me into a Matt Yglesias/Josh Barro centrist and it's horrible.
It's called the Overton Window, and the GOP pushes it to the right VERY effectively and seemingly without end.
(And before someone makes a lolololbutuhaveaready4hillarysig, SCOTUS and keeping the right wingers at bay is much more important right now. We can start running leftists once demographics favor us more heavily)
