I don't think I can say it any better than these folks did. Sometimes, things have to get worse before they can get better. I agree that Brown being elected is an improvement, considering the circumstances, and is a win in the short term. But, electing more just like him, McCain, Specter, Snowe, Graham, etc, etc, is not the answer.
Funny, I said exactly that on a local radio show this very morning, and was laughed off the air by the hosts, who explained that people like me are "the reason we lose".
They are like a gangrene on the Constitution, slowly festering and rotting it away. If you don't do something about it now, you will end up losing the entire (Constitution) limb.
Yes. This is something that irks me to no end. If a compromise creates, funds, or grants power to an office or agency, it never, ever goes away. All this crap about bipartisanship, cooperation, etc.(not that any of that is going on) still leads us down the road to destruction.
For the record I voted for McCain in the general election, because I thought Obama would be worse than he has been, and McCain would be marginally better. I have regretted that ever since, because I betrayed my integrety to vote for that man, I wish I would have just stayed at home.
I felt exactly the same, except for the staying home bit. I voted for Ron Paul in the Republican primary; I should've voted for him again in the general election. Felt dirty throwing in for someone I didn't believe in.
Sergeant Bob, et al;
Maybe I missed it while skimming through, but I haven't seen your solution. I saw your platitudes, but the closest thing to a specific plan I found was to "let the failures [I can only assume this means people like Ron Paul, McCain, Badnarik] fail."
I wonder how far we can go with that. We can complain about the ineffectiveness of the Republican Party all we like, but I haven't seen any other party do any better. 
Fistful, what are you looking for, solution-wise(seriously)? It's already been said above that the solution is reasonably articulate, principled conservative leadership. We presently have none. We have actors who don't want to be put out of work by new talent.
The overarching problem is that most of the current Republican party - which claims to support conservative values - is a joke. Maybe they're scared now and they'll put on a show, but we won't know for sure until they get back into majority. What happens then, when they get back to spending, and regulating, and doing favors again? Will we still be glad that at least we kept those durned ol' corrupt Dems out? Where is a single person I can stand behind?
I don't want a Great Uniter. I want a Great Polarizer. I want someone who will speak so bluntly as to plain the absurdity of today's government. I want transparency from a man who will say what he believes, and do what he says. Anything less is a compromise.
Anyone who pretends he can reconcile the irreconcilable differences between our founding fathers and today's creeping progressive liberalism is either fooling himself, or deceitful and committed to nothing but his own power.
I'll run for office. I'll be the candidate of "no". No bullshit earmarks, no tax increases, no corporate welfare, no, no, no. I can be the Great Divider
