Originally posted by Nesster This I don't see - there are very few old time liberals with any real influence any more - and Nixon would be seen as a liberal and not a Republican, ditto for Eisenhower, and Bush I a RINO... and forget about Rockefeller! I'm reading the Morris bio of Teddy Roosevelt - that era has a lot in common with today - and he wouldn't be too easily accepted in the Republican party of today.
The old right is today's center, politically.
I would generally agree with that, but in 2008 there were quite a few Democrats in the primary who were to the left of Obama. Mike Gravel, Dennis Kucinich, Al Sharpton are a few of those. Perhaps they could be seen as "screamers" by someone who is not generally liberal.
I agree with you about how the Parties have moved. I was a Republican from the time of the first Nixon election, when I first became politically aware. Years later, I had to move right from Nixon to accept Clinton. Ronald Reagan said some catchy things to get elected, but those who followed actually took them seriously.