In January the Republican Party was in shambles—it had been disgraced, dismissed and discarded by Americans. While party officials and operatives were licking their wounds after eight hard years of destroying the party label, Rush Limbaugh and Glenn Beck went on the offense, cracked the national media’s protective shield of the President and exposed Obama as a committed Leftist with a radical agenda designed to bankrupt the nation. Their clarion call energized and excited the movement, and led to citizen revolts at town hall meetings and tea party rallies that have, at least temporarily, derailed Obama’s efforts to nationalize health care.

These talk show hosts, their conservative colleagues in the media, the Tea Party activists and the Town Hall protesters voluntarily headed to the front lines in the battle to take back our country. And the hierarchy of the twenty percent party is embarrassed by their “flamboyant rhetoric and angry tone”? So accustomed to the mushy, empty, carefully scripted, feel-good messages of party moderates it is little wonder the bold, clear, honest, deeply felt statements of the conservatives sent Republican operatives into feverish chills.

But the Republican establishment continues to recruit and support milk toast RINOs as candidates. In upstate New York’s special election, they found a real prize—the pro-choice, pro-gay marriage, tax and spend Republican, Dede Scozzafava, to carry the Republican label. She is running against the Conservative Party’s candidate Doug Hoffman, a solid conservative on most every issue. She “has the best chance of winning” is their argument. Therein lies the fundamental principle of today’s Republican Party.

Republican leaders are blind—utterly unable to see the dramatic change that has occurred in the electorate during the last few years. Americans have given up on their brand of Republicanism. It didn’t stand for anything yesterday, and the people don’t believe it will stand for anything tomorrow.

Which begs the question: with only 20% of Americans identifying as such, is the Republican label irrelevant? Would it be better to be on the ballot as the Conservative Party candidate, or the Independent Party candidate, if such were possible, rather than the Republican Party candidate? Two times as many voters identify as Conservatives than Republicans. Likewise two times as many voters identify as Independent than Republican. While all other factors may not be equal (party organization and money sources, for instance) is it not possible with internet fundraising and Tea Party regulars ready to volunteer that the GOP ballot position is no longer the asset it once was.

If Upstate New York is any indication this is indeed the case.

While Newt Gingrich endorsed the liberal Scozzafava simply because “she is the Republican nominee”, the voters aren’t buying it. They want more. The darling of the party elite has managed to capture only 20% --those happy to buy just a label--and the race is now a dead heat between the Democrat and the Conservative.

Will Republicans leaders figure it all out before 2010? Will they embrace as candidates bold populist conservatives who “speak without fear” in the words of Glenn Beck? Or will they shun these patriots and let them run as Conservatives? The revolution spreading across America will provide men and women strong enough to take this country back—only question is: what role will the Republican Party play?