We hear this after every election and it never happens. The GOP will not become a more "libertarian" party.
The GOP needs more and new voters. What's your solution? I'd argue we've maxed out with WCWs, a demographic that will continue to be a smaller slice of the electorate. There's no excuse why the Republican Party shouldn't be sweeping affluent, educated, highly populated/vote-rich suburbs, so why not go for them? As Goldwater said, hunt where the ducks are, right?
The parts about libertarianism that are attractive to the bernie supporters who are considering Johnson e.g. are almost exclusively social issues + foreign policy. Basically, economic libertarianism is not the part that's actually liked.
Libertarian ideology is probably the worst fit for a state like VA/NoVA, heavily dependent upon government contracts. Libertarian + being a Hawk would kill any support from actual libertarians and leftists that existed in the first place.
Then why wasn't PA flipped in the first place? Trump wants to end those 'trade deals', without that, you shouldn't expect those votes. That is actually another issue.
To your point regarding the suburbs, OR votes like a NE state, and so does MN to a lesser extent.
How would they 'tone it down'? Even Cruz tried a 'toned down' message this year with 'let the states decide', yet if you look at his policy proposals and it didn't really work compared to the media narrative. Ironically, it was very akin to what Bush did, because the country has gone more left on those social issues, so toning it down is now the new demonized RW position.
And Cruz tried to be the sneaky pseudo-libertarian candidate, yet libertarians saw through it.
