Few people remember waaaay back when George Bush ran for President as a 'compassionate conservative,' with a center-right message of political conciliation. But after he was sworn in, it became pretty obvious, President Bush was going to be conservative and would freeze out Democrats and any other kind of opposition. Either he was faking or he was captured by conservative Republicans.
Anyway, we know that his plan to govern from the edge of the political spectrum just resulted in one of the most unpopular presidents in history.
Now it looks as if Democrats are going to win the presidency and gain substantial advantages in Congress, it will be interesting to see if liberal Democrats will repeat the Bush legacy, only from the liberal side of the political spectrum.