Yep. It is naive to think that Dems deliberately hurth themselves by loosing votes solely because of their ideological loyalty to right wing causes. The opposite is true, they go where the votes are - and the votes moved waaay to the right. We have not seen the end of it yet. If defeated, DLC is likely to embrace even more right-wing stand to capture the right votes that went to Bush.
There are two trends behind this growing conservatism of the public. One is the genuine growth of conservatism, linked mainly to the growth of knowledge-based middle class. The other one is embracing conservative ideology because other alternatives are not readily available.
The genuine growth of conservatism is linked to larger socio-economic changes, mainly the growth of knowledge-based middle class (college educated specialists, professionals, and managers). The institutional structure of knowledge production, transmission, and the knowledge itself promotes meritocracy and hierarchical thinking which in turn is conducive for conservative ideologies. Hence, the greater the number of college-processed people, the greater the possibillity of conservative ideologies having popular appeal.
Another factor behind genuine conservatism is the fragmentation of society into a myriad of identity groups, many of which influenced by religion and similar conservative ideologies.
The other trend is linked to the fact that withdrawal to the semi-private spheres (suburbs, identity groups) leaves the public sphere empty and ready to be taken over by corporate interests. That pertains to knowledge about public affairs as well. People simply have little means of their own to gain necessary knowlege of public affairs, and that vacuum is filled corprate media that provides them with fasty food for thought. The corporate public opinion makers decide not only what people think about, but also the range of options they may have in their thinking. That steers public opinions toward the regions safe for corporate rule without necessarily causing people to enthusiastically embrace such views.
Most people despise McDonalds but eat there anyway because it is convenient and other options not readily accessible. Ditto for public discourse. People may dislike the pulp fiction disseminated by tee-vee and the mainstream rags, but they consume it anyway because it is being spoon-fed to them, wheras finding alternative sources of information requires much time and effort.
wojtek