[markomalley]

Let him say what he wants.

The GOP is dead. Committed suicide.

[DeaconRed]

"The GOP is dead. Committed suicide."

Sad but true. However it was assisted suicide, from the LSM.

[Finny]

Speaking with MSNBC’s Andrea Mitchell, King called the ongoing government shutdown “the strategy of Ted Cruz” and wondered aloud “why more Republicans around the country didn’t join me in denouncing Ted Cruz” before the shutdown began. “We cannot allow our party to be taken over by the likes of Ted Cruz and Rand Paul,” King continued, describing Cruz and Paul as “isolationists” and “RINOs” who “don’t represent traditional Republican principles.”

Going third party is a risk that conventional wisdom says is suicidal, and I would much rather see conservatives overcome the GOPe and make "Republican" the party of limited government. But honestly, how much of a realistic chance is there for conservatives to reclaim the GOP in the next year or two with guys like King, McCain, and Romney so thick in the ranks and defining "Republican principle"? Supporting their Republican party is an exercise in futility and is becoming more and more lethal, as we see today.

We may not win with a third party, but we sure as heck will weaken both Republican and Democrat liberals by splitting the vote enough to put them into office with pluralities, meaning they have ZERO majority support -- the majority in fact OPPOSE them, and a third party will help make freedom-loving Americans' votes COUNT in expressing that rejection. When a politician goes into office with a majority of Americans on record as having voted "against" him by opting for a third party, that politician will be in a WEAK position. Perot proved it twice: REMEMBER that when Clinton was elected on a 43% plurality (57 percent rejected him) he was so weak that he was slammed with the Republican Revolution, and when he was elected on a 49% plurality the second time, he was impeached.

CLEARLY, with guys like King, McCain, Romney, et al still considered "respectable" Republicans even within the party structure, the party is an increasingly dangerous liability. A third party may well be the ONLY way out of this mess, whether we like it or not. I wish it wasn't so, but what I wish is entirely beside the point.