Second, what new policies did Democrats promote from 2004 to 2008? Universal health insurance goes back decades. Increasing spending for infrastructure projects is hardly a new idea. Equal pay for women? Increasing social welfare spending? Please, that is so 1970s.

Sure, Democrats have certain demographic factors in their favor. But prior to Obama, the last Democratic presidential candidate to nab more than 50 percent of the vote was Jimmy Carter in 1976. Let’s be honest. Obama didn’t win the 2008 election, because voters loved his policies. He won because voters perceived Bush to be a failure and because of the financial crisis. Obama’s biggest accomplishment was repackaging standard Democratic party policies as Hope and Change.

No, this isn’t the Republican equivalent of the DLC, but it still might be enough to improve the GOP’s standing. We’ll have to wait and see.