The once relatively solid GOP south and west are undergoing rapid demographic changes.A "R" by the name
on the ballot is no longer a guarantee for winning an election, even in South Carolina ( ask Karen Floyd ).
To govern, one must be in power, and to be in power, one
must win elections, and a 30% conservative electorate is
not going to win elections by themselves. The GOP must
win over 51 percent of those who consider themselves
moderates.
The alternative is a permanent Democratic majority in
control of the government if the GOP excludes the
conservatively impure or even if a conservative third party emerges.
I cover this in response to another poster in #63.