Paul Bedard's Washington Secrets column had a very interesting nugget about how the Republican Party as it has become more extreme has also shed a significant number of members who have "morphed" into independents.
GOP analysis: Mitt blew it, made Obama look goodnally," he said.
By Paul Bedard
Winston's poll found that voters, by 53 percent to 38 percent, still blamed Bush for the nation's economic ills.
"The bottom line was that Romney could not counter the Obama narrative that he wanted to go back to the policies that got the country in trouble in the first place," wrote Winston.
Winston, who has strong ties to House and Senate Republicans, said by failing to lay out a clear economic solution, Romney lost a chance at winning more votes from women, younger voters and Hispanics even though the economy was their biggest issue.
Winston also revealed a trend of Republicans morphing into independents, requiring Republican candidates to win a far bigger majority of independents. "As long as the Republicans who left in the later part of the decade remain independents, Republicans will likely have to win independents by 5 percent or more to be competitive nationally," he said.
As the Republican Party veers further to the right it will continue to lose what's left of its moderate wing. This is a seldom mentioned but huge problem for the GOP going foreword.