The best analogy for what is happening now to the Republicans is what happened to the British Conservatives after their defeat in 1997 by Tony Blair. They spent several years doing their bust to “purge” party members who wanted to stay in the European Union, took other extreme positions, and badly lost the next three general elections.

Then they came to their senses, selected Cameron as their leader, started getting inclusive again, and now they are expected to win the next general election. True, Gordon Brown’s ineptness has something to do with this, but if the Conservative party was still led by Hague or Duncan-Smith they would lose the next election too.