I’d like a “no party” system, where you vote for an individual instead of a party. This whole notion that everyone has to fit neatly into a box is partly to blame for our govt’s demise (from a citizen’s standpoint), IMHO.
There were several discussions about what form the US gov should take within “The Federalists” papers.. some of the founders of this country were concerned that a strict two party system would result in the parties each vying for power to the detriment of the public. http://wiki.answers.com/Q/Did_the_Founding_Fathers_want_a_two_party_system_of_government
#1. moderate Republicans regroup and form a new party of the center. GOP stays and linger on as a fringe party.
I think this would be the best solution. It has also been shown to occur in the past. It would leave the small fringe group out of direct power and only act as a spoiler. The problem with the fringe portion of the GOP is that it represents a minuscule portion of their constituents. I think one of the barriers to the formation of additional parties, is the cost of financing an election. To that end, I think Ron Paul demonstrated a way to get around a good portion of the cost {more grass routes, less main-stream media @ $300k/min(+/-)}