The only game left in town

Nate Silver wonders if the libertarian movement has taken over the GOP:

But of the roughly four different pathways the Republicans could take in the post-Obama universe -- toward Ron Paulesque libertarianism, toward Sarah Palinesque cultural populism, toward Mike Huckabeesque big-government conservatism, or toward Olympia Snowesque moderation/ good-governmentism -- the libertarian side would seem to have had the best go of things in the First 100 Days.

This is because the libertarian-Republican faction is the last one with any real organization and ideological solidarity left. The Christian Right seems to have been largely thwarted, "Big Bidness" has really taken a pounding lately (anyone seen Mitt Romney in the news lately? Nope, me neither) and the neocons are utterly discredited.

In other words, political ideology, like nature, abhors a vacuum. Something has to fill that gap.

If the libertarians take over the GOP, the good news is that the culture war battles over regulating personal behavior (homosexuality, drugs) will end.

The bad news? We'll see a lot more of this secessionist crap, a stronger move against internationalism that may find a strange bedfellow in the "fair trade" left, and maybe a more prominent role for the revisionist history and goldbug fever that helps power the libertarian movement.