When people ask me about the woes of the GOP and how the party can get progressively more extreme, I often point out a simple fact -- in most parts of the country, the general election does not matter anymore. If you can win a plurality of the vote in a GOP primary, you're elected no matter how radical you are.
I wish we had a map that estimates how small a share of the vote one would need in order to get elected in a particular Congressional district --
For example -
If you have a district where the GOP average is 60% the 100% of general election voters
The primary election has 40% of the turnout of the general (40% of general election voters)
60% of primary voters vote GOP (24% of general election voters)
Extreme Candidate gets 55% of the GOP primary (13% of general election voters)
Then all you need is a hardcore 10-15% of the voting electorate to win.
Here is a map of Congressional districts where noncompetitive districts are grayed out - as these voters basically have no choice who their Representative is in the general election.
As this map is probably deeply flawed, please feel free to add your corrections
