Two years ago when Obama won the presidential election, there was a little gloating on behalf of the Democrats. After far too much talk of “Hope” and “Change” the Democrats took the election of Obama to mean the American people had turned a corner and had shifted far to the left. They pursued policies that, in my opinion, were far too liberal and not supported by the populace. When it came time to elect leaders they opted to pick those from the far left, Rep. Nancy Pelosi and Sen. Harry Reid. I think even most of my Democrat friends would agree that these two were from the left of the party.

The Democrats were wrong two years ago. The country had not turned a corner and moved to the far left. They essentially remained in the center and drifted left just a little bit. This misinterpretation is what hurt them last night. Had they installed leaders who were a little less extreme, who were a little more centrist, who were, well, a little more like the country, they would likely still control the House and have more a majority in the Senate than they do now. They set themselves for the 2010 elections to be about Pelosi, and to an extent, about Reid.

It will serve the Republicans well to learn this lesson from history and recognize that, in my opinion, the country has not taken a sharp turn to the right, they have simply moved slightly to the right of the center line. If they can empower leaders who are more centrist, then they should be able to get legislation passed and be able to take credit for their successes in 2012.