The Emerging Democratic Majority

A decade ago, ace political analysts Ruy Teixeira and John Judis foresaw a new Democratic coalition—of women, African-Americans, Hispanics, suburbanites, young people and professionals—that would form "The Emerging Democratic Majority."

Then came September 11, and history, for a time, seemed to have interrupted the inevitability of demography. Teixeira and Judis got a lot of ribbing.

But now, it's clear, they got it right. And that's what makes tonight's exit polls so very, very bad for the Republicans.

The GOP needs to move back to the center, quickly, and learn to compete for those bands of voters that Obama won tonight.

In politics, demography is destiny. Have Republicans learned that?

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