OBVIOUS, BUT TRUE: Tennesee Gov. Phil Bredesen, a Democrat, says his party must be more centrist.

He said the acceptance of long-term deficits reflected a cultural change that will have severe consequences for the country. Congress and the administration, he added, have been “very aggressive about spending money and I think it’s made easy by the fact that we’re so far off the norm at the moment that it’s easy to add a little more.”

Asked what the political cost to his party could be, he said, “I think it’s huge.”

Indeed.