“Republicans Ponder the Center”

That’s how Adam Nagourney of the New York Times sees the aftermath of the California recall election. Republicans, according to Nagourney–who quotes party stalwarts like William Weld and Christie Whitman–are reconsidering whether they should come out foursquare for abortion and homosexual marriage, following Schwarzenegger’s victory.
I don’t know, maybe I missed the part of the campaign where Arnold talked about those issues. And maybe the polls have changed since I saw that a large majority of Americans oppose both unrestricted abortion and homosexual marriage. How, exactly, did espousing these minority positions become the “center” of American politics?
Don’t worry, though. We’re safe until the New York Times starts running headlines that say “Democrats Ponder the Center.” As far as the Times is concerned, they’re already there.