We heard the same thing from Democratic activists after the Mondale and Dukakis defeats in the 1980s — they believed that the voters weren’t being offered a clear enough ideological contrast because the nominees were insufficiently liberal. But ideological excesses and ignoring the commonsense center only leads to political isolation and irrelevance.

The good news for Republicans is that centrist and independent voters tend to be fiscally conservative, socially progressive, and strong on national security. There is plenty of room for Republicans to reconnect with these voters — America is, after all, a center-right nation.

The Republican Party can re‑emerge as a force by reconnecting with independents, centrists, and libertarians in the future. Great parties have to be willing to grow, and in the GOP’s case, become more diverse. But if socially conservative activists and cynical play-to-the-base politicians continue to impose rigid social conservative ideological litmus tests, the Republicans will be in the wilderness for a very long time. For the Republican Party to revive itself and reconnect with independents, the Republican Party needs to look more like John McCain in his prime, and less like Tom DeLay.