The Republican Party is doomed to go the way of the Federalists and Whigs, no amount of lobbyist dollars and gerrymandering will change that. There is one way though, to reverse this: conservatives must have a serious debate about the party's post-Bush future.
Do we go back to our conservative roots and become once again the party of Taft, Goldwater and Reagan or do we continue on as the party of Rockefeller, Nixon and Bush?
I pick the former.
I think people idolize Reagan too much. He was a great president. He was not, however, a god. As I recall, did he not sign an amnesty? Didn't he put Sandra Day O'Connor on the Supreme Court? He wasn't perfect and neither is President Bush. But they're both great CONSERVATIVE presidents.
Goldwater got killed in the election.