Thompson and the Dems: I've read Thompson's '72 ramble during each of the last three presidential races. It's good for keeping the bullshit-detector oiled. I think that your interpretation is pretty correct. Move ahead 30 years: The biggest Dem boosters are union members and blacks. Do you see any intertwining of ideology there, other than these being two groups that vote Dem out of sheer habit? The Democrats have too many bases to cover, nationally speaking -- always have, in modern times -- and it takes a feat of Clintonian proportion to cover them (which is to say, you swear loyalty to each group face to face, then screw them in the budget talks). The GOP is actively trying to hoist itself by the same petard, since "middle-aged white guy" is not what you might call a growth demographic. "Compassionate conservative" is a pre-emptive strike in the media wars. It allows Bush to tag himself as something before the media does (like when it called Bush 41 a "wimp") and before the right-wing nutbags do (like when they called Bush 41 a "liberal").