Remember the republican party is not made up of just republicans. There are the RINO republicans, conservative republicans, liberal republicans, moderate republicans. Some of them actually hide in the republican party but still vote for dims. I knew a guy in socialist WA state who was a republican but voted 90% for the socialists. So, what we really need is the Conservative Party and any candidate who enters it, has to meet conservative values or hit the road.
There also were "Reagan Democrats" that voted GOP from 1980 through 2004. They no longer felt they belonged ... hence the loss of both houses in 2006.