Since the formation of political parties very early in the history of the Republic, political power has been exercised by two parties. The names and composition of parties have changed over time, but it's always been two and all of the others have been irrelevant in their brief time in the Sun.
For most of my youth, the two parties were not divided into liberal and conservatives, each party was itself so divided. The Democrats held the majority in the Congress, but enacting legislation required either the conservative blocks or the liberal blocks to coalesce across party lines to get anything done.
This system broke up when the Solid South turned against the Democrats Party and became Republicans. That stared a trend that sent the Conservatives toward the Republicans and the Liberals toward the Democrats. The Democrat Party is much further along in this shift, they have essentially purged their party of all conservatives or have the few holdouts under firm control. Not so in the Republican Party, for various reasons. The Tea Party movement is doing something about that and is having success, especially at the local level.
But because this success is not fast enough for some and because the most powerful of the bunch are the ones best equipped to hang on the longest, a group of people are urging that conservatives vote for Democrats. That this idea is insane on it's face is demonstrated by the glee with which this LA Times journalist urges this Kamikaze approach forward. I have never seen a more wrongheaded idea in my life. The Democrat Party can never be a choice for conservatives and within our two party system staying home or voting for some third party fringe is the equivalent of supporting Democrats, as this author points out.
I am going to vote for my own best interests. I also vote for the best interests of my children and my grandchildren. I vote for the best interests of this great country of ours. I will never vote for a Democrat for any office, for any reason period. Those who do are dead to me.
Then i'm suspecting your life is either short, or has been relatively superficial compared to my own. I have watched the NRA slowly strangle all opposition to it's ideas over the course of many decades.
Do you know how they did it? When they were BACKSTABBED by a Republican, they threw all their weight to the Democrat. When they were BACKSTABBED by a Democrat, they threw all their weight to the Republican.
You may not grasp this concept, but it is called "Whipsaw." It is how a small minority can CONTROL the outcome of an election and thereby get their way as if they were a majority.
So you think the idea is insane? I think you haven't been watching enough history or politics to grasp why it is exactly the right thing to do.