Nice analysis.
However, what you omit is how vocal the Left is in the Democrat caucus and base. Remember 1968? The Left got political amniotic fluid from that bloodbath in Chicago, and now, spiritually, runs that party.
Your intellectual honesty is refreshing. You'd have a home here in the GOP.
Thanks for the kind words.
The Democratic party has it's koolaid drinkers to deal with just as the Republican party does. One advantage that the Democratic party has, though, is that it's instincts tend toward populism. They're quicker to react to populist sentiment. The Republican advantage has usually been in it's ability to organize.
As for the GOP, it was my home at one time. I spent many hours working on the 1980 election that brought us Ronaldus Maximus. For reasons I discuss in more detail on my FR homepage, I'm a conservative, but not a Republican. Who knows? It's possible that I'll re-explore my party affiliation some time in the future.