A Chicago-based acquaintance of mine recently lamented the conformity one must endure to join a party. He considers himself an "independent," one of a growing political class otherwise known as moderates. Historically, their collective beliefs draw them to the softer, leftbound side of things - but often swing in either direction, for Reagan in the Eighties and for Clinton in the Nineties. They're the coveted, race-winning grab bag electorate for both Democrats and Republicans. Care of California, however, America's new moderate may be well right of center but attractive to much of the entire spectrum, and Arnold is the prototype:

Something weirdly attractive was coming off the Schwarzenegger camp's victory stage on TV round about midnight Tuesday - Arnold, Maria Shriver (a get-out-of-jail-free card for many centrist Democrats feeling trapped in an inhospitable party), Jay Leno's funny introduction, Rob Lowe nearby, Eunice and Sargent Shriver, the extended Shriver clan, and a sea of young, attractive faces.

...[W]hat we just had in California was a virtual national election; everyone was watching. It's possible that with Arnold Schwarzenegger's victory Tuesday a dam burst in the center of American politics. If any significant number of younger voters, independents impatient with a relentlessly tired-sounding Democratic party, and conservatives start to flow together inside the broad, new political space Arnold has staked - a space also covered by George Bush - then Democrats have a problem.

Great taste, less infighting; Daniel Henninger opines on the future of GOP politics. I know for a fact that "Dee Snider at a key Republican rally" was an oxymoron in my mind before last week. We may have a home for you, strangers.