How can the GOP be brought back to being a more moderate party?

[BigSkyBob]

It's not going to happen unless the heavily conservative wing splits off into their own party.

I can see this happening with the Tea Partiers if they feel the "Establishment Republicans" as the TP calls the sane Republicans, haven't given into their demands enough.

The Tea Party Republicans are the sane ones.

The debt agrees with you more than fourteen trillion dollars times. The deficit agrees with you a trillion-and-a-half times. Quibbling over whether tweedle-dee or tweedle-are will caption the ship won't change the fact that the ship is still headed straight for the iceberg.

[BigSkyBob]

Don't. We don't need a Democrat Lite^TM party.

I've studied people who said things like that over the years mostly conservatives. Nice use of code words there. So it should just continue going hard-right until they can't even win any of the country? Like that worked so well in 2008....

Democrat Lite basically means "Moderate to Liberal Republicans need not apply or GET LOST!"

RINO means "(Insert group slur)-Lover"

The GOP is going to have to move to the center if it wants to win, some are just in plain denial.

Since self-described "conservatives" are about 40% of the electorate, they only need to gain about a quarter of the self-described "moderates" to win an election.

[BigSkyBob]

Don't. We don't need a Democrat Lite^TM party.

I've studied people who said things like that over the years mostly conservatives. Nice use of code words there. So it should just continue going hard-right until they can't even win any of the country? Like that worked so well in 2008....

Democrat Lite basically means "Moderate to Liberal Republicans need not apply or GET LOST!"

RINO means "(Insert group slur)-Lover"

The GOP is going to have to move to the center if it wants to win, some are just in plain denial.

Since self-described "conservatives" are about 40% of the electorate, they only need to gain about a quarter of the self-described "moderates" to win an election.

Also that depends on whether or not you use "slightly conservative" in your polling. If you just use very conservative and conservative before going to moderate than you get 40%. If you add slightly conservative to the other 2 the number jumps to 60%.

That makes right-of-center the power position in American politics. The Republican party simply doesn't have to become the Democratic Lite party to win elections.