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What is needed is a viable 3rd party that doesn't get hijacked by dingbats. I agree with you on principle and then see Cruz Bustamonte v. Arnold or Howard Dean v. Bush.

Perhaps the GOP does write off its conservative base the way the Democrats just assume they will dominate amongst minorities. However, until there is a tenable alternative, we're genuinely stuck.

In order to posit a choice between conservatism and Republicanism, there has to be a doctrine which can in turn support a platform that specifically elucidates what makes a conservative non-GOP.

Secondly, the 3rd Party candidate has to have the national organization to beat both the Dems and the GOP. If all that party garners is a 5% protest vote, they do nothing except Nader the GOP and cause national policy to drift further to the left as more Democrats win in congressional races down ticket.

So what needs to happen is the following:

a) A National grassroots organization needs to be established to field a wide array of down ticket candidates first. This insulates the party from being hijacked by well-funded political gadflys who want it's money to wage quixotic presidential races.

b) These candidates all have to run on a similar platform. Something similar to Newt Gingrich's Contract With America.

c) Money in large amounts needs to be raised and invested to maintain viability in off years. THis is the only way a 3rd party can legitimately hope to exist 3 years after it's first presidential candidate has been destroyed at the polls.

What is needed is a viable 3rd party that doesn't get hijacked by dingbats.

You build it at the local and state level. In this case, there are at least two other Republicans who are identifiably conservative. But if you are in California and want to build a thrid party, you might want to look at the AIP. Nationally, it's affiliated with the Constitution Party.

I don't want a viable third party unless it's the Greenies (or someone like them).

We have the right party. We need to strengthen it by having the right people win primaries. We don't need to change anything but that.