[mmichaels1970]

The conservatives have to take over the GOP, not abandon it or wait for them to change their stripes.

I agree. Personally, I don't construe this poll to mean that a third party should emerge. I show it to mean that a conservative takeover of the GOP is potentially already underway.

[Titus Quinctius Cincinnatus]

I show it to mean that a conservative takeover of the GOP is potentially already underway.

That's exactly what I would like to see happen.

Let's face it, third partyism doesn't work. It almost worked in NY-23 - but only because the majority of Republicans in the district voted for the third-party guy because the GOPer was such an out-of-step whackjob.

On the other hand, simply running "Tea Party" candidates against any and every Republican, just because they're a Republican, even if the Republican is reasonably conservative, is simply going to allow the Dems to keep the Congress. Tea Partiers need to figure it out, and choose their battles carefully. Fight the RINOs, don't fight the entire GOP - because the entire GOP is not your enemy.

Unfortunately, I fear that a lot of the hardcore Tea Partiers are so hopped up on emotion and self-righteousness that they can't, or won't, distinguish between a Dede Scozzafava-type Republican and a Jim DeMint-type Republican.

The answer is to work within the GOP vehicle that already exists, take it back for conservatives, and ride it to victory. That's what Reagan did. If Reagan had gone third party, history would look back on him merely as a footnote, and most people would ask, "Ronald who?"