Will the moderate Repubs try to take their Party back?

From the radicals and neo-cons that have them by the balls? Or they roll over and let Bush and Cheney stick it to them one more time? Or will they have to be shown at the polls?

with the filibuster compromise and its uncertain right now what will happen with Bolton.

Seeing as the radicals occupy every leadership position and make up much of the foot soldiers as well, how do you expect moderates to take back their party? They have zero in-roads among the party leadership -- Frist in the Senate, DeLay and Hastert in the House, Bush in the WH... there's no one to lead the charge.

as you could see with the "7" that joined the moderate Democrats. That locked the bowels of Bush and the Republican majority. They need the few moderates in their Party. Otherwise, they are the minority. The question is: Do the moderate Repubs have the courage or the will to fight for their Party?

If you defy the Republican leadership too often, you are punished. They got away with it this time because they preserved the filibuster, which was what the public wanted, and there was heavy media coverage. But if the media doesn't report what's happening, then Republicans who defy the congressional leadership are severely punished -- removed from sought-after committee assignments, removed as chairs of committees, even less help from the party in election campaigns. So -- yes, they do need moderates in leadership positions, or their attempts to fight back will result in their being crushed by their own party. Which is fine by me, actually -- if all 7 senators tried to hold up GOP leadership and the GOP withheld spending on their campaigns, maybe Dems would pull off wins against a lot of them in the '06 and '08 elections.

They probably outnumber the far-right fanatics, but like a lot of diaspora Democrats right now, some mods will keep quiet and hope for the best, some will fight back, some will propose going off on their own to form a new centrist third-party, and some will give up and merely go. United, they might just turn this thing around and bring some civility back to our country. But things will need to turn much worse before they muster enough resolve to unite behind any particular solution, and hopefully by then the Dems will have found some way to unite and beat them to the punch.

I gave up on the retaking control of the Republican party from within concept...only losses at the ballot box will get their attention. What I want to see is Galloway-type speeches from a strong Democratic leader with vision to rupture the split. Now that would make me very happy.