LEACH. I was all set to do a post ruminating on super-moderate Republican Jim Leach's defeat, but now I see Matt's already pretty much got it covered. Basically, among political observers you've got a fundamental division: there are those who lament the defeat of the moderate element of the GOP that Leach so perfectly embodied, and there are those who welcome it. Certainly I'm one of the latter -- someone who thinks ideological coherency among the parties and political polarization, though certainly not without their costs, are things to welcome in the American scene rather than mourn.
With that, I think I'll stop blogging (and drinking) and get a bit of sleep. Much more tomorrow/today on TAP Online, of course.
UPDATE: Even given all that, it should be said that arch GOP moderate Chris Shays has secured re-election in Connecticut.
--Sam Rosenfeld
