Republicans keep telling themselves that they lost in ’06 and ’08 because they weren’t conservative enough and so the "center-right nation" abandoned them. But the reality is, they’re just out of the mainstream on a whole host of issues.

For example, two recent actions by Obama, the banning of torture and the closing of Gitmo and CIA detention centers, enjoy popular support.

From the new WaPo/ABC poll:

A majority of Americans in a new Washington Post-ABC News poll oppose the use of torture in terrorism investigations, backing Barack Obama’s pledge that "under my administration, the United States does not torture."

…

Overall, 58 percent support the prohibition Obama declared before taking office, but there’s a wide gap across party lines: 71 percent of Democrats and 56 percent of independents in the poll said torture should never be used, but most Republicans, 55 percent, said there are cases in which the U.S. should consider using torture against terrorism suspects.

Funny how that "right and wrong/black and white" world conservatives love so much turns gray when it comes to torture.

And on Gitmo:

In a new Washington Post-ABC News poll, 53 percent of Americans said the United States should shutter the controversial facility, finding another way to deal with the prisoners under custody there. But a sizable proportion of all adults polled, 42 percent, and a broad majority of Republicans, 69 percent, said terrorism suspects should remain at Gitmo. Most Democrats, 68 percent, and independents, 55 percent, said they’d prefer another way.

While Republican leaders like John Cornyn and John Boehner continue cheerlead for the continuation these un-American policies, the rest of the country has thankfully rejected them.