We really do need more 3rd parties, and Independents to run.
Also, if the right would swing more to the Libertarian side, and away from the Tea Party they would be going in a good direction.
Aren't they the same? I always figured the Libertarian movement was hijacked and absorbed by the tea party. Differences? I'm not seeing much. To me, it seems like the same thing. Science sucks, religion rocks, small government for stuff I don't like and big government for stuff I do like.
IMO, the best thing the right could do is move left.
When you look at things, the right has so far abandoned rational thought and has broken the gauge towards the right that it has done 2 things:
#1 It has forced the left to move closer right.
#2 It has forced themselves to abandon positions that they once carried with pride. This has allowed the left to take up these positions and actually appear decent. Meanwhile, it has forced the right to either backtrack and agree with the left or to take positions even farther off to the right.
Examples? Well, one example is the ACA. In the 90s, the ACA was a GOP idea. It was the free market solution. Since then, the right has moved off the cliff to the right. While the GOP is living in the lala land of tort reform and vouchers for everyone, it has allowed the left to take up positions (formerly owned by the GOP) and actually appear rational and moderate.
Cap'n'Trade is another one. The GOP has since abandoned this. They now seem to endorse that any regulation or anything "environmental" is socialist and illegal. In fact, many are still denying man influenced global warming. I read a letter in the DesNews a few weeks ago claiming the CO2 isn't a toxin. Ummmmm... Maybe this letter writer should place a plastic bag over his head and see what happens... Or take a basic astronomy class and learn about Venus.
In fact, when you look at it, the left is a lot farther right today than it was 20-30 years ago. Meanwhile... The GOP has sped off into near anarchist mode. Ronald Reagan would be seen as a RINO today. Or worse, a liberal flip flopping Socialist Democrat.
What would be good for the GOP is if they finally "compromised" and "came left." By compromising and losing in the short-term, they could finally dig into the Democrats' base in women, Latinos, and independent voters. Just coming left and stopping the hemorrhage of pissing off these voters would help.
In reaction, the left would then seek to re-energize its' own liberal base and drive itself off the cliff on the left side (much like what the right has done to itself).
In the long-term, the GOP must move against this "No-Compromise" tea party schtick. Short-term defeats of compromise and moving left will yield long-term gains.
Unfortunately, as you can see by some members of the GOP arguing to shut down the government, this isn't happening. Mitt Romney and Mike Lee even had a lil spat a few days ago. With a GOP owned (Congrats to Gerrymanders) House, this vision of compromise isn't going to happen anytime soon.