I would say the more rightist elements of the party have felt pretty empowered for eight years, since it was the President who aligned with them during his campaign and subsequent time in office.

Is it bad with the Democrats too?  Yea, it is.  Just ask Joe Lieberman.  But to pretend it’s not nearly as bad with the Republicans in the past couple months is to ignore reality.

I believe the Republican Party has in several ways veered “too far” to the right.  Having said that, a return to Bill buckley conservatism (or dare I say as a Arizonan, Barry Goldwater conservatism) in the name of “righting the ship” would be a mistake. 

Look at the Democratic party.  Mondale was the last of the New Deal/Great Society Democrats.  The Democratic Party later succeeded not by returning to its roots but by putting out a new brand , Bill Clinton. 

At this point in time, I will suggest that Barack Obama will be the leftist version of Ronald Reagan.  In other words, an inspirational guy who gets the votes for decidedly “away from the center” movement.  We’ll see.  I don’t think a “pure” conservative is the counterpoint to that.

I’m not saying that what you believe is happening in the Republican Party is as bad as what’s been going on for twenty years in the Democratic Party. I dispute that it’s happening at all. The evidence of the Republican party ignoring “all those who dared disagree” just does not exist. Indeed, the evidence suggest that moderate Republicans hold much greater sway in the party than conservatives, social or fiscal.

Right nowhere.

So what’s happening, as always happens it seems, is that people argue against a point I never, ever, never, zilch made.

Again, here’s an observation without basis.

Sarah Palin has been running approval ratings in the 80s and 90s in Alaska. Are you saying, then, that only 10 or 20 percent of Alaskans – the ones who don’t like her – are in the mainstream?

Bobby Jindal won pretty handily in Louisiana which is hardly a bastion of conservatism. As I recall, the most recent primary has something like 98 percent of black Democrats voting for Obama. Jindal is quite popular all the way around there. So what’s the mainstream in Louisiana?

I don’t think you really know what the mainstream is, but then again given what the media has been telling us for the past eight years, at least, I’d be surprised if anyone really knew.
Jay_C – My guess here is that you’re seeing one of the organizational differences the Republicans and the Democrats. On the right, there is a discernible difference between “conservative” and “Republican” and you see quite a few conservatives who feel no particular alliegance to the party itself if they believe that the party is going in the wrong direction. On the left, to be a Democrat is to be liberal and one must be the latter to be the former.

I think the past couple years, at least, you’ve seen a serious measure of disgust with the Republican party among those who had been its most faithful adherents (those who came into voting age in or just before the Reagan era). They (and I freely admit I’m one who left the Party) got tired of watching the bigwigs of the GOP spend most of their time playing the same stupid political games as the Democrats, trying to romance an MSM that is genetically predisposed to despise them, and drink from the same trough that fattened Democrats in Congress for 50 years. That’s still going on and most folks are content to call themselves “independents” or “conservatives” or “Libertarians” until some folks with good sense start running the Republican party again.

Heck, up until Barack Obama’s brownshirts mobbed Joe the Plumber, I was content not to vote for a Presidential candidate at all.

Excellent point Jimmie
Republicans do appear to be better than democrats at that particular facet. 
But as devil’s advocate, some would argue then why have the numbers of Registered Republicans been dwindling? (something I have wondered myself, and not sure even if it is really true, but an argument I hear a lot none the less)

But, once again, thats the problem. People like Jindal, or Sarah Palin – your up and coming generation, are just way outside the mainstream. That will be even more true after a few years of liberal leadership.

You are right that the far right has hijacked the GOP. And they aint gonna let go, for they feel  it is the only voice they have. It may be a better strategy for RINO-types, to join with Dems and try to shape the new world order from the inside.

Yes, I agree. The meme that the Republican Party is intolerant towards internal opposition is not in my opinion supported by the facts, at least not comparatively so. Which party prohibits those who dissent from its dominant view on abortion from even speaking at the convention? Hint: Not the Republican Party. Which party nominated a candidate that has a record of opposing the party on at least some issues? That was the Republican Party.

The Republican Party has serious problems and I’m not even supporting them this year at the presidential level, but it should get credit where credit is due. And it does have a better record on tolerance for internal dissent than the Democratic Party does.

Where, exactly, have you gotten this notion, Michael? The GOP has not been called “The Big Tent” for nothing. Look how many think-tanks exist on the conservative side and look how often those think-tanks actually tussle with each other over ideas and policies. Then look at what happens to dissenters on the left.

somehow you have bought into the notion that Republicans are lock-stepping drones and that the party is built on purest ideology. That could not be farther from the truth.

I’ll prove it. Name three prominent pro-choice Republicans (hint, one of them is a Governor and one was a prominent Presidential candidate who is quite active in campaigning for McCain) , then block out a bit more time and name prominent three pro-life Democrats (one is…err…umm…).