The voters have to be more aware of the candidates...educate themselves....there is some Dems that are better then the GOP and GOP better then a Dem....people should not be looking at party as opposed to the candidates voting record and platform with consistency...a little research into the candidate..who they are, what kind of upbringing..what they believe in and so forth...
The voting record probably being the most important thing here because regardless of which side of the isle the person is on, the big question is which side does he/she caucus with.
Having said that, the argument can be made for one to vote straight dem/rep as the party numbers DO matter when the chips are down and the wheeling and dealing begins.
I think what you're suggesting falls into the "moderate" category and personally, I don't want a moderate anything. If I'm a dem, I don't want someone that I can't count on to stick with the dems and reps the same. That's what's gotten the Republican party in the trouble they're in today, being Democratic Lite. Too many have traded any conservative values they might have had in for the "power" thing discussed in the article I linked to above.
