But the company gradually lost its advantage as mainstream food chains copied its formula.

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Some conservatives point out that along with Akin and Mourdock, many mainstream candidates lost, too, like Rep. Denny Rehberg of Montana, Rep. Rick Berg of North Dakota and former Rep. Heather Wilson of New Mexico.

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By 2001, the genre receded and slowly lost its status as a mainstream success story.

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But not even Ford's bullish chief executive, Jac Nasser, thinks that Ford's mainstream products can recapture lost ground.

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As a concept, the mainstream in fact may have lost its currency.

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But it is also attracting voters who have lost faith in economic reform and in all the mainstream parties.

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Much of the mainstream media, unfortunately, seems to have lost interest in covering the meat and potatoes of government.

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