Candidates Getting Too Extreme

David Broder points out that they may be doing just that.

Democrats brushed aside concerns about the impact of their votes to cut off funding for the troops in Iraq or the larger implications of a precipitous withdrawal from that country. Republicans were casual about contemplating the use of nuclear weapons against Iran or the effects of foreclosing a path to citizenship for millions of people living illegally in the United States.

Both parties are blessed with a multitude of contenders with attractive personalities and impressive résumés -- people it's easy to imagine in the Oval Office.

But the dynamic on both sides is trending toward extreme positions that would open the door to an independent or third-party challenge in 2008 aimed at the millions of voters in the center.

I am not sure where a third party candidate would come from, but it might be a possibility.

What is interesting though is although both sides are moving to the extremes of the parties, they are going to have to move to the center to win the White House and the blogosphere is going to be blasting both sides for "flip-flopping." The interesting thing is that the GOP is a little more in touch with Americans on some issues and the Democrats on other issues. But as this primary season wears on, it might not remain that way.