but those more votes were concentrated in states such as NY and Cali, 30 states voted for Bush only 20 went for Gore. Plus GOP now runs everything, House, Presidency, Senate, more legislatures, more Governors.
I don't think it tells us that the democrats have gone out of the mainstream, I think it tells us that people who agree with republicans are more likely to vote. Minorities, immigrants, poor people, People age 18-30 - All groups you could make a case that are represented best by the Democratic party - tend to vote at lower margins than say, white males over 50.
Also I don't know how you could argue that Republicans are more in the mainstream than Democrats by using President Bush as an example. Considering Gore won 500,000 or so more votes nationally than him and Nader won a couple more million.
The country is pretty evenly divided, Republican voters tend to just be more reliable I'd say.
