Paul Krugman links to a post I wrote last year. With the revote on Fast Track possibly coming up soon I think it is a good post to repeat. So here it is. (Here is the link from my cross-post at Daily Kos.)
Democrats Who Move Right Lose Elections – There Is No “Center”
Mainstream Democratic campaign consultants and pollsters typically tell candidates they should "move to the right" and campaign to the "center" with positions that are "between" the "left" and the "right." This is the way, they say, to "attract swing voters" who would be "scared off" by a candidate who takes populist positions that favor the interests of the 99 percent over the interests of the 1 percent.
Polling and experience show that exactly the opposite might be true.