Confused?

Rick Santorum now leads Mitt Romney for the Republican presidential nomination. Newt Gingrich wins primary based on colonizing moon ideas. Ron Paul denies racist newsletters he sponsored in 1990s (not 60s). Conservatives adopt the policies of the Catholic Church regarding contraception while repudiating Mormon candidate.

It goes on. Republicans, at least half moderate ones, stand aghast and appalled by the direction of the party as it lurches to the right.

Every student of Political Science since ever has studied the tendency of American politics to govern from the center. Very few candidates for President have ever been elected who appealed to the extremes: Walter Mondale and Barry Goldwater leap to mind.

This middle road, compromising aspect of successful candidates for President drives both extremes nuts. You only need to turn into MSNBC or Fox News to hear it, both extremes are always upset about some kind of "sell-out" or so, that does not conform with their ideal picture of what should be done.

President Obama, for example, is still getting grief for extending the Bush Tax Cuts, and not falling on his sword for a "single payer" Health Plan. Mitt Romney, who used to be the apparent Republican nominee, recently described himself in front of a radically right-wing audience, as "a severe conservative".

What? A severe conservative; what on earth is that? Images of Elmer Gantry or maybe Dirty Harry come to mind. What is a severe conservative?

Rick Santorum, who is about as severe a conservative as you can get, meanwhile is outpolling Romney in national polls. This is the same candidate who lost by 18 points in Ohio (?) because he was so severe his own party abandoned him in mass.

And this is where the Republicans are going while they plot (plod) to rid the country of the great Satan: Barack Obama.

Guess what, it likely won't work. Santorum has already lost all the women vote for his Neanderthal, Catholic Bishop views on abortion and anti-women views. Romney doesn't know who he is; but one thing for sure he is Mormon, and evangelical Christians simply will not tolerate that.

And then there is Newt, who has so much baggage from his past, that he needs two buses to travel; but doesn't get his seat on Air Force One.

Conservative forces in this country are spending billions to radicalize the conservatives; and it has worked. But, what they have missed is they now are out of step with mainstream America, and remarkably it looks like people are figuring it out.

Of course, a recession that has placed millions in poverty, with massive amounts of wealth concentrated in the top 1% , who are paying for the conservative propaganda blitz, does not help their cause.

Democrats cannot relax because of this. "Citizens United" has given an enormous advantage to the aristocracy to simply buy the election. This approach has limited successes, but still lurks as a way to grab victory from the jaws of defeat.

The nation's future depends on this; either we elect a true conservative, who is "severe" enough, to then alienate everyone and plunge the nation into a possible civil war; or we wake up and re-elect a moderate (compared to the wing-nuts on the other side) President who will continue a middle road approach, which is the usual American political tradition.

Confused? I'm not!