2004 Election Timeline: President Gephardt?

[Person Man]

There really wasn't an appetite for moderation because of Nader siphoning votes away from the base. Same with 2008, really. The narrative switched from people being fatigued from Bush's hard right views on social policy and hawkish foreign policy to one where his moderate economic and immigration/racial views caused the recession.  As in both 2012 and 2004, the opposition tried to shore up the base and when they lost the very close election by slightly more than expected, the establishment saw that the base wasn't delivering. Republicans were talking about a post-election road map and Democrats in the months following the election were seriously talking about denouncing Roe v. Wade as going "too far" and sacrificing the "sacred cows" of social security and medicare.  The ironic thing is that base would do a hostile takeover of the party during the following election cycle and win by more than expected.