Reply #83: I am partial to the "Old Republicans" moniker myself...

[liberation]

... because that is basically what they are: a bunch of right wingers, too chickenshit to register republican now that their preferred brand is tarnished beyond repair.

There is also the issue of moderate conservatives like Emmanuel, Obama, Clinton et al... who went democrat mainly by default. Not because they agreed with traditional FDR Dem progressive values, but because of the GOP's traditional contempt for their kind (Jews, blacks, and other minorities, strong women, etc). Since they could not bring themselves to join the GOP, they simply decided to turn the Dem party towards their preferred conservative persuasion. Actually Mrs. Clinton was actually a registered active republican at some point...

The rest, as they say, is history....