The idea that social conservatism is the GOP's biggest problem is laughable, with the possible exception of immigration. By far the biggest issue is economics - broadening appeal on that league will garner far more votes than abandoning the party's most loyal voter base.
Every time I see someone advocate the GOP drop its social plank and become a more-or-less libertarian party, I have to wonder where they expect all the socially conservative voters to go. It's not like they're going to vanish over night. Further, I wonder if they recognize how many people only vote GOP for social issues and that this number far dwarfs the number of people they'd gain from the even more socially liberal Dems by becoming libertarian-ish.
One of three things would happen:
1) Some sort of hostile takeover of the Democrats would be attempted, but probably fail. At best, we'd see a return to a big-tent socially split Democratic Party as before the Southern realignment. Such a coalition would be pretty much unstoppable, if highly unstable.
2) Social conservatives form a third party that makes the GOP winning anything big impossible.
3) The social conservatives sit out one election, the GOP loses, and they come back even stronger within the party next time around.
I generally agree that the way forward for the GOP is to win over Hispanic Catholics, who happen to be
majority pro-life. You do this by retaining most of your social conservatism by dramatically softening on illegal immigration AND by moderating on
some economic issues. Do it right and you might even win over some socially conservative blacks and Asians.
