EJ Dionne: “Still, the bottom line is that the Republicans are now a very homogeneous, conservative party. The Democrats remain a lot less liberal than the Republicans are conservative. If Republicans are to win in November, they need to persuade a significant chunk of moderates and independents — both groups voted roughly 3-to-2 Democratic in 2006 and 2008 — to switch sides. Maybe an angry mood will be enough to get that done. But Republicans are asking moderates to opt for candidates well to the right of where those moderates stand. And to win primaries, Establishment Republicans had to run farther to the right than they would have if they could have kept their focus on winning this fall.”