Will Dean go quietly into the night....

[Nym90]

No way Dean would run as an independent. I believe he has already said that he'd support the Dem nominee whoever it is. Plus it is ridiculous, everyone was saying the same thing about McCain in 2000. There was tremendous animosity with Bush but ultimately McCain endorsed Bush and most of his supporters voted for Bush. Dean would do the same if he lost the race for the nomination. There have been lots of bitter battles for the nomination in which the losing candidate ends up supporting the nominee, and I don't see any reason to believe that Dean is any different than any of the others who have lost these races.

[Nym90]

Well, conservatives are no less out of touch I wouldn't think. People who do nothing but listen to Rush Limbaugh and watch Fox News all the time and are therefore deluded into thinking that everyone supports massive tax cuts for the rich and oppressive government intrustion into social affairs. Of course that's a false description of the great majority of conservatives, but it's no less inaccurate than your portrayal of the liberal elite. People on both sides who only hear favorable news from their own side will always have a biased view and think that theirs is the only "real America".
As for the comments about Reagan, I'm sure there were a lot of Republicans thinking the same thing about Clinton in 1996. I'm sure more than a few of you were just absolutely and utterly shocked as to how anyone could vote for that guy. Ideologues always have absolute and utter loathing for successful politicians from the opposite party.

[Nym90]

I realize that most conservatives weren't shocked that Clinton won, given the polls. What I meant is they were probably shocked that people actually voted for him and liked him.

[Nym90]

The main reason that Humphrey carried Texas was the fact that he was Johnson's Vice President, and thus there was some home-state pride in the sittting President. Also, Wallace probably took more votes from Nixon than from Humphrey (although a lot of Wallace's voters would have stayed home in a two way race, especially in the South, since Nixon was at least nominally if not forcefully pro-civil rights)