The GOP reminds me of the ECUSA. The more members they lose the harder they run to the left, determined that they aren’t tolerant, inclusive and progressive enough.
Actually, there is some really good analysis going on about just this effect. As Conservatives say crap on it.. and leave.. the Republican party is by force shifting left. There was a really good analysis of this effect posted on the C4P site trying to understand why Huckabee is doing well in poling when Conservatives generally aren't really that interested in him. The answer is that the Palinites are not reporting Republican affiliation to the polsters as much anymore.
The percentage of people identifying as Republicans is down to 20% and of them, still 73% say the party has lost touch with their concerns.
The officials and functionaries and a growing percentage of the remainder of Republicans are liberal and they are hoping for a return of the 60's and the era of Country Club Republicans without the messy and unpleasant ideas of the unwashed masses.
Newt was once at the vanguard of the demand for change, but now, he is caught on the page looking at how are we going to grab a share of the liberals pie. They like what Rahm did running to the right of the conservatives and gaining control and think they should play the same game against the Dems, but it won't work for the same reason it didn't in 2006 and 2008.
The base is loyal to ideology, not a brand. The party elites believe that ideology is spent and decrepit but just like the earth not playing along with the Global Warming hoax, the country yearns for values, honesty and integrity. People know the consequences of spending like there is no tomorrow, because they are in our face every day now.. and as the dollar plummets while Obama plays his fiddle, saying "Rome must burn so I can make it better." Our Republican party is thinking, mmmm.. pretty.
EXACTLY!!!!!