I don't think becoming more 'libertarian', is the way to go, since libertarianism only appeals to a small section of the population, most of whom probably vote Republican anyway. After all, libertarianism is simply smoking dope and participating in gay sex orgies (no matter what some people like to think), it is, as an ideology, committed to shrinking the size and reach of the state, both, to put it bluntly, in the bedroom and in the wallet. Now, I'm not impugning libertarians, I mean, there are a lot of intelligent libertarians who've given a lot of thought to their philosophy, but, alas, when it comes down to it, libertarianism as the libertarians see it is no popular with the most people. Whilst its true that people don't like paying taxes, it is also true that they do like government spending; indeed, a lot of people, if pressed will choose more public spending over lower taxes. Moreover, a lot of people find libertarian opposition to the bailout of banks and large corporations rather frightening, given that their livelihoods and savings will most likely depend upon the continued survival of said banks and corporations. And, of course, let's not forget that most people are far less socially libertarian (and this includes the yoof) than some libertarians would like. Believe me, a lot of people like nothing better than giving criminals and. Illegal immigrants a good kicking (metaphorically), and this is definitely
not confined solely to elderly, poorly educated white working class men. The GOP will not win elections by becoming a libertarian party.
If the GOP is to be successful, it really doesn't need to junk a lot of its policies (maybe opposition to bailouts), it simply needs to reframe its strategy around being a party that, whilst still being on the right, is actually interested in being a party of government. Now, that means an end to cretinous government shutdowns and brinkmanship over the debt ceiling. Really it would be better if the GOP simply voted to raise the debt ceiling, and kept its powder dry until Obama and the Democrats manage to hang themselves somehow. Of course, it also needs to turn down its anti-state rhetoric (which doesn't neccessarily mean junking its commitment to low taxes and lower public spending of course, just that it advertises them in a more low key, respectable fashion) which seems to either frighten or amuse a lot of people. It definitely doesn't need to become a socially libertarian party, given that that would create a lot of strife and would probably gain relatively few votes (I mean, most of the people who base their votes on how pro-gay marriage and pro-choice a candidate is probably aren't going to be that amenable to the Republicans anyway). Peversely, the more 'dull' and managerial the Republican party becomes (as it would, if it reframed itself as a party that was in favour of stability and prosperity), the more likely it will be for it to win elections, as opposed to being 'excitingly' populist or libertarian.
Of course, its easy to talk of how to 'fix' the GOP; that is easier said than done, given that, unlike their centre-right counterparts across much of the rest of the world, the party leadership has very little control over the party; it can't simply draft one national platform and whip its representatives and supporters into voting and campaigning for it, as, firstly, there is no particularly effective way to compell certain representatives to do this or that. Secondly, and more importantly, the party primary gives factions that oppose the leadership the opportunity to fight back, one that is far greater than in other countries, where candidates can, if neccessary, be parachuted in by the party leadership. The GOP (and the Democrats) is not a centralised, unitary party in the mould of the British Conservative party; instead, its effectively a loose confederation of tribes with no effective leadership to bring the different factions to heel. Thus, change is likely going to have to come from the ground up, and that may be difficult.
Instead they need to apply the social conservative tendency to a ethnically diverse and more urbane demographic.
That's abandoning the #1 American social conservative principle: make everything as WASP as possible.
Members of ethnic social conservative religions like Catholicism and Black Protestants are considered heretics. The American Evangelical Right wants no part of them.
And in order to fix the Republican Party, the Right needs to accept Catholics and Black Protestants them into their fold.
I'm fairly sure that Catholics have been well and truly accepted into the Republican party, given that the Republican Speaker and Majority Whip are both Catholics, many of the party's prospective 2016 Presidential candidates are also Catholics, and that the party won the support of nearly half of all Catholics in the 2012 Presidential race.
