Rejection of their core principles

Ambinder cautions -- too late -- the McSarah campaign from basing their attacks on Obama on his socialist agenda.

Conservatives find it absurd that Americans are about to elect the most liberal president of the modern era and aren't terribly upset by it; but in capitalizing on this particular argument of Obama's, the Republicans are rearguing whether some form of economic redistributions from white people to black people was necessary -- even though Obama never really made the point. Obama has been talking about the larger GOP governing philosophy for a while now, but until recently, the race hasn't seemed like as much of a referendum on Republicanism; it's been more of a referendum on the Bush years.

What changed?

The GOP went all in on an ideological war.

The early '30s ended a couple of generations of GOP political dominance that followed the Civil War. They wouldn't regain dominance until the prosperity of the late 60s. This could be a similar moment.

Conservative Republicans have never understood that the New Deal was in large part an effort on the Roosevelt administration's part to keep Americans from embracing socialism. So I wonder, if voters reject McSarah's attacks on Obama for wanting to "redistribute wealth," are the voters simply smart enough to say, "Well, yes, that's what income taxes are?" Or are they saying, "Hell, yes, let's really redistrbitute some wealth here?"