It's good to hear her speaking out after the election, though I would have preferred to hear it before.

Christie Whitman, the former New Jersey governor and Bush environmental official, says in an upcoming book that Republican moderates must speak up or the party could move so far to the right that it will lose its influence and strength.

Whitman, who led the Environmental Protection Agency for President Bush from 2001 until May 2003, also says in the book that she was often at odds with the White House on issues such as setting limits on air pollutants and power plant emissions and in the debate over global warming. Her tenure was marked by complaints from conservatives that she was too moderate.

The main focus of Whitman's book "It's My Party Too: The Battle for the Heart of the GOP and the Future of America," is on her desire for moderate Republicans to regain control of the party. The more conservative wing of the party has claimed much credit for Bush's re-election.

"A clear and present danger Republicans face today is that the party will now move so far to the right that it ends up alienating centrist voters and marginalizing itself," Whitman writes in the book, obtained Friday by The Associated Press. The book is to be released by The Penguin Press in late January.

Link.

Whitman, and other moderates like those in Come Back to the Mainstream, have really been forced out of the GOP, so its incumbent on the Democrats to reach out to them to broaden their coalition. This doesn't necessitate a rightward shift in the party but rather a stressing of the moderation already inherent in the party. If a major figure like Whitman eventually defects, it would not be long until many of the party's voters begin moving towards the Democrats as well.