> BTW, I'm not claiming that the GOP doesn't have far fewer moderates
> now than it did in the 50s or 60s or 70s. I'm saying it's been a
> movement from 55% far righters to 90%, not from a minority to a
> majority. And most of that movement has come from the re-structuring
> of party territory as opposed to their ideological conversion, most
> centrally the movement of the South from Dems to the Repugs.
55% far righters? You should look at California Republican politics in the 1950's. At the time Cal. parties were not allowed to endorse candidates, so de facto GOP endorsing power was held by an elected membership organization called the California Republican Assembly. It was totally dominated by moderates and liberals. Somebody mentioned Tom Kuchel. That guy was the archetypal Republican in many parts of the country at that time. That only changed as the result of a guerrilla insurgency during the Draft Goldwater movement in 1960-64.
SA