Baraka_Guru

I could see a split happening.

It makes sense for sensible Republicans to want to appear moderate and as far left as centre-right, while maintaining a focus on fiscal responsibility and putting social issues on the backburner.

At the same time, I don't see core Tea Partiers going away---as in, suddenly forgetting about their concerns with taxes, spending, and constitutionality of government initiatives. This, I think, isn't necessarily a reflection of the astroturf element of the movement. Even if the astroturf elements fade into irrelevance, you're going to get a core portion of this group who won't bend on their stance regarding how government should act.

The Palin set, the hardcore Reaganomic set, the American exceptionalists----these are people who want the American government to return to the past. Unfortunately, that isn't exactly compatible with what sensible Republicans should be doing right now, and I think this is what will cause a rift between Republican supporters. It's what will lead people to stop supporting Republicans all together.

This is because sensible Republicans will be viewed as compromising socialist sympathizers. Because anything less than Reaganomics is un-American.

__________________
Knowing that death is certain and that the time of death is uncertain, what's the most important thing?
—Bhikkhuni Pema Chödrön

Humankind cannot bear very much reality.
—From "Burnt Norton," Four Quartets (1936), T. S. Eliot