I understand that frustration, but the crucial word in your post is "relatively", and if the GOP did a better, dare I say a relatively good, job of adhering to and governing by conservative ideals, more people who presently consider themselves Libertarians would cross over and vote for Republicans; probably many wouldn't have even re-registered as Libertarians in the first place. If you look at where growth is coming from in the Libertarian party, what you see are a large number of disaffected former-Republicans. These people didn't turn away from conservative ideals, their former party, the GOP, did. So, rather than betray those principles, they did an honorable thing, and re-registered with a party that still upholds them. That albatross needs to be hung around the necks of RINO's -- McCain, Chaffey, DeWine, et al. -- and their apologists; people who think a successful GOP is a GOP that looks more like the Democrat Party. THOSE clowns are capital "I" IDIOTS, and they are to blame for all manner of disease within the GOP, one symptom of which is people re-registering as Libertarians.
Now, you may argue that it's more honorable to stick with the GOP and work to steer it back to those conservative principles, and I agree with that. But, in defense of re-registrant Libertarians, I must point out that the expectation is that the GOP will uphold conservative ideals as a vehicle to change government and the country; to turn them back to more Constitutional ideals. We already know that the country and government have problems that would not exist if conservative principles were being applied and adhered to, and it's a monstrous battle to make headway there. Well, when the GOP itself began to fail in terms of applying and adhering to conservative ideals, it forced the constituency into yet ANOTHER battle; a battle for their own political party. As if we weren't already tired, and irritated, and frustrated with the myriad ways in which government and the country, in general, have turned away from conservative values, now THIS TOO? Frankly I can't bash people who looked at that situation and just said, "T'ell with it!" and re-registered as Libertarians.
At the day's end, the GOP needs a long dark season of painful introspection during which it decides, once and for all, whether to be a conservative party, or an equivocating, squishy-middle party. Is the GOP going to make a decided turn back to the right, and re-establish itself as the champion of the conservative ideals upon which this Republis restsl; or is it going to take the view that those ideals are antiquated, and continue to slide leftward?
I'll stay and fight for the former. I repudiate and damn the latter.
The big problem with sitting out or voting for 3rd parties is letting Pat Leahy control the Judiciary committee. We had a chance to put another conservative on SCOTUS, which now is probably gone, and this goes well, well beyond two years of possibly temporary period of "sending rascals a message".
There is a good story today in WSJ about 26000 votes in VA Senate race that could keep Senate barely in GOP hands.
Imagine 5 conservative Justices on SCOTUS and end to stupid decisions or guessing games. There was a rumor last week that Stevens can't possibly hold much longer... now, Bush and RNC didn't make a big fuss about that, possibly not wanting to "alert the media" and Dems, but true conservative voters are supposed to understand these things, and what's really at stake.