At least according to moderate GOP Congressman Chris Shays (CT-4), whom I supported in his tough reelection battle this year. David Lightman writes up Shays' plight in the The Hartford Courant today:

Chris Shays these days seems like a congressman without a political anchor, a politician without a party.

[...]

Democrats he counted as friends turned on him during the campaign and are still snarling. He's no favorite of many Republicans either, a view he fed last week by publicly bucking powerful House Majority Leader Tom DeLay, who holds life-or-death power over legislation and choice jobs.

Being an independent-minded moderate means a lonelier-than-ever life in Washington where collegiality matters.

"Chris Shays fits in the other Republican Party - a Republican Party that doesn't quite exist anymore," said political analyst Stuart Rothenberg.

The article is quite thorough and highly interesting, so don't miss it if you're interested in the situation faced by moderates within the GOP.

The thing that comes to mind when reading this is that House Democrats have done a lousy job of wooing Shays; whereas Harry Reid over in the Senate was able to help Jim Jeffords defect three years ago, Nancy Pelosi has loused up any chances that Shays might change caucuses.

Perhaps Steny Hoyer or another more moderate Dem in the party's leadership might cajole Shays into becoming a Democratic-leaning Independent (like Bernie Sanders in the House and Jeffords in the Senate, both of Vermont), but they really should reach out to him in the months ahead. The signal that such a move would make--so close to the recent election--might prompt more moderates to jump ship and reduce the power of the ultra-right in Washington.