But a lust for power can be directed in different ways. Why didn't this lust drive the party to take over the country by force, to stage a coup? If the lust for power is a kind of energy, the Democrats supplied the channel in the two-party system to direct the flow inwards. The Republicans had to purify themselves, to work on distinguishing their brand by moving further to the right, because the Democrats had vacated their left wing and taken over the center-right positions. There are only so many channels on the dial.