Artful Dodger: I know how strange this sounds, but I believe they don't see the hypocrisy because they can't see it.

My point about the psychological difference is that more democrats place emphasis on party identity than do republicans. It's because of this that they are unwilling (or maybe unable) to regulate themselves. One clear evidence of this is that republicans will call phonies in their own party rinos (republican in name only). When has anyone ever seen a democrat criticise one of their own by calling them a 'dino'?

And do you know why? Because being a democrat is all it takes. There is no "in name only". If you support a democratic candidate and vote for him/her, you are a bona fide democrat.

The 'what if Obama was a republican and Romney a democrat' senario is more likely to confuse democrats than republicans, because more republicans than democrats will put a higher value on ideology than on party identity.