In response to:
The specter of BO & Pals running the country another four years should have brought out every "real conservative" able to crawl to the poll. So one is forced to conclude that there are not enough conservatives to win an election by themselves.
As the GOP looks for new voters, assuming they do, where do they go? Who must give up the policy space it takes to recruit new voters?
Social conservatives seek to reduce personal freedom by legislating moral issues, whereas the fiscal conservatives seek to increase personal freedom by keeping the government from sacking the country. Which of those is probably less attractive to swing voters?
Libertarians already preach social liberalism and fiscal conservatism. Let's invite them into the tent.
In January 2008, at a John McCain rally in Columbia, S.C., I asked a number of local politicos to look back to the brutal 2000 Republican primary in their state, the one between McCain and George W. Bush. They had all supported Bush back then, and I asked whether, given the inconclusive wars, runaway federal spending and economic catastrophe of the next eight years, they felt they made the right choice.
The answer was yes. They explained that they had strongly supported Ronald Reagan, and then they supported George H.W. Bush because they had supported Reagan, and then supported George...
So count the dependable voters, and see how many more we need to recruit to have a chance to save the country a lot of suffering.