Arlen Specter's departure also reminds me...

...of that famous quote of Ronald Reagan's, "I didn't leave the Democratic Party, it left me." I wonder how many other people feel like me, that I didn't leave the Republican Party so much as it left me. Just like Reagan created "Reagan Democrats," I think Obama has created "Obama Independents." They consist mainly of middle-aged, suburban, college-educated whites like me who no longer feel at home in a Republican Party dominated by southern, rural, and Evangelical conservatives.