That's an important difference between the two sides of the aisle that isn't mentioned enough.

On the right, if someone goes too far too the right, mainstream conservatives climb all over each other to denounce him and distance themselves from him. The best example is Pat Buchannan who is a completely marginalized figure now with no political future, and deserves it.

On the left, no idea is too far out, no plan too socialist, no pacifist crunchy granola tree hugger too nutty to embrace. See the esteem that Jesse Jackson, Michael Moore, and Al Sharpton are given in the Democratic party. All of them have said enough lies that an organization that believed in any semblance of responsibility would long ago have thanked them for their help and escorted them to the door. Instead they marginalize Joseph Leiberman, who is closer to the American center than any of those wackos.