The primary race between Connecticut's Lieberman and Lamont has sent a powerful message to Democrats nationwide.

Republican governor Charlie Crist will be left with a disappointingly small share of the vote in the race for Florida's Senate seat.

The white working class has ended up in the Republican party; the highly educated and the wealthy, with the Democrats.

In our world of polarized parties, a moderate may not prevail.

In normal times, Northeast Republicans" moderate message can win over districts in suburbia, but the war may knock off a significant number in 2006.

The end of the year is a time to look back at what political predictions were right and when they were off the mark.

Mandatory voting comes with a price: a modest loss of freedom. But this would be more than balanced by the revitalization of the rapidly vanishing center in American politics.

The unhappy effects of low voter turnout are clear: ever-greater polarization in the country and in Washington, which in turn has led to ever-more rancor and ever-less legislative progress.