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A couple quick points in response to your colorful post.
First, you could be right. The Republicans might be finished. But then again, some Democrats toasting LBJ back in Atlantic City in the summer of '64 thought there might never be a Republican president again. Who knew Nixon would be back in four years, or Reagen in sixteen? In politics, anything is possible.
Second, I find it interesting that the Republicans themselves do not seem to be learning the lessons of this election, as outlined by their own betters within the party. According to Gallup, the two most popular national figures are Sarah Palin and Mike Huckabee, both fundamentalist Christians. It could be suicide for the party, but hey, look at Masada. Sometimes it's okay to lose, with dignity.
Third, I enjoyed your description of a "mad, dying party" filled with the willfully ignorant. When I went to a Palin rally, liberal friends suggested I was visiting either a cult meeting or a banjo dueling contest lifted directly from Deliverance. It was neither. Honestly, I think it was the most decent group of 12,000 people I have ever seen in my life. Sure, there are kooks and haters on the far right; I admit it. But 99% of conservatives are not kooks and haters, and the admiration for Sarah is heartfelt, decent emotion; there's nothing bad about it.
Fourth, Palin was rapped for not enough foreign travel. The cure for that: more foreign travel. It was said she did not talk turkey well enough when asked about entitlements. I have a very sophisticated view of entitlements, and one Palin could readily adopt: cut them. If she ever runs for president, she would do the same thing she does as governor: review fedreal programs and stake out positions on those which deserve more funding and those which do not. To paraphrase Hubert Humphrey, if Sarah Palin ever runs for president and cannot perform this task, I will print out these various tributes and eat them.
Fifth, I was not intending to re-argue Bill Ayres, and will not waste space doing so here. I don't think the record supports that he and Mr. Obama are perfect strangers, but if that is your position, I will adopt it for purposes of this exchange. It is irrelevant to my general points.
Finally, I am happy to step away from this thread and let you folks argue about Mr. Obama, and whether he is liberal enough. I think the answer is yes, but his borrow and spend agenda is more about incumbency than party purity.
