Whether Bush wins and is a lame duck or loses and is blamed for the loss, we are perhaps about to witness the end of the Republican Party as we know it -- the coalition of fiscal libertarians and social conservatives. The combination has never made sense and only worked when they were united against Communists and 60s radicals, which is now irrelevant. It is only the support of the fiscal conservatives and traditionalists that has given the radical right a legitimate voice in American politics these past few decades. About 3/4ths of Americans are liberal on social issues and I believe we are about to embark on an extended run of responsibly liberal governance that will bring us back in line with Europe and the rest of the "developed" world. I was talking with a friend from England last night and she said that while, of course, there are people and politicians in Europe who have radical right views, they know they have no shot at controlling the government and overturning liberal values like the social welfare contract and choice and gay rights. Not to get too blue-skyey, but I see us picking up the thread we let go of in the morass of the 70s and continuing our political evolution: reaffirming society's responsibility to its weaker members, reengaging the world community, rejoining the environmental movement.