The Republican party that used to win elections in congress as well as for the Presidency consisted of old money country club republicans, culture conservatives and libertarians who wanted their votes to mean something. These three groups had little use for each other but had enough similarity of interest to work together to win the elections. The culture conservatives and the libertarians have split and now the country club members see little in common with the culture conservatives.
Common purpose will let us win again. Low taxes and avoidance of foreign messes, personal freedom with personal responsibility and an optimism that contains both a forward looking outlook as well as a respect for tradition are three elements we can all agree on, IMHO
The Republican party that used to win elections in congress as well as for the Presidency consisted of old money country club republicans, culture conservatives and libertarians who wanted their votes to mean something. These three groups had little use for each other but had enough similarity of interest to work together to win the elections. The culture conservatives and the libertarians have split and now the country club members see little in common with the culture conservatives.Most of those who jumped ship to Obama fall in that "country club" category.
And there is that split between libertarians and social conservatives.
But rank and file support for libertarian ideas ebbs and flows. Or it follows a cycle from a low point, like 1936 or 1964 to a high point like 1984.
When people feel the shoe of government regulation and taxation pinch, they get together to fix things (so long as they believe that that degree of regulation or taxation isn't necessary). When the shoe doesn't pinch, people stop caring about big government. Committed libertarians and small government devotees aren't a large part of the population.