John Kerry? McAuliffe? Dean? Reid? Pelosi?

Sure the GOP is fragmented now but I think this is too much kicking people when they are down when Democrats have been in the same place before.

The interesting thing about 2006-20088 was how power was delegated and how the various faction coordinated their efforts. Pelosi and Reed focused on legislation, Dean and Rahm Emanauel worked on elections and DailyKos, Firedoglake and other blogs kept the base motivated and focused. The GOP doesn't need a central leader but there has to be some form of coordination amony different factions (outside of Cheney). We already know that the GOP shares talking points.

Obama is the leader of the Republican Party. Both branches.

He pretends to lead and they pretend to nip at his heels.

It's like the Ed Sullivan show.

Bill Clinton was the public face of the Democratic party from 1992-2008. That had its advantages and disadvantages, but the general public had a mostly favorabl view of him.

I keep hearing about "the base" of the GOP holding up such people as Rush Limbaugh, Sara Palin, and former Vice-President Richard Cheeney as the leaders of the party.

If that is the case then for goodness sake and for the sake of the GOP change "the base" of the party. I'm a member of the Democratic Party, one who votes however for "the best candidate" and would vote for a Republican if "the base" changes. It is time that the GOP rid itself of self-identifying religious fundamentalists. If any group does not represent the best of Republican conservative values it is that group.

There are many, I believe, Libertarians who are waiting for a strong leader to step forward and take charge.

Whatever happend to Joe Scarborough? He is my kind of conservative.

...is the head of the GOP now.

They are praying for a miracle and he is the only one that could possibly save them.

that nobody leads the GOP, it's an odd assortment of retards, throwbacks, has-beens, never-wases, religious nutcases and corporate shills.

The last time the GOP had a "leader" who did not deserve to go to prison it was 1959 and Dwight D. Eisenhower.

The GOP is the most deadly, destructive enemy the US has faced since WW2. I mean absolutely no hyperbole when I say that, and couch the claim purely in the damage inflicted on the country as a direct result of conscious actions.

For that reason, their current determination to follow Rush and Cheney over the cliff is truly great news. Imagine if the entire German army had done something like that in 1944, and you'll understand my glee.

Brian from Seattle, as for kicking the GOP when they're down, that doesn't go far enough. You don't turn your back on a wounded rattlesnake, you kill it! And then you make damn sure it's dead. That's how you deal with a mortal threat. I'm not speaking of the republicans themselves, who I expect like most people (only less so), they are able to review new information and make productive decisions.

Sadly, many republicans will not go gracefully into the night, and so there will be violence in this transition. The murder of Dr. Tiller and those Pennsylvania cops a few months ago are the first casualties in this battle, but there will certainly be more. Nevertheless, we've clearly got them on the run, and we can't turn back now. (And by "we" I mean "peace and freedom-loving Americans", not Democrats per se who are only a temporary means to an end.)

As a registered democrat who often leans Libertarian. Yeah, weird. However I see Libertarianism as socially liberal and economically conservative.

The leader the GOP should galvanize around should be Ron Paul. At least they could get away from this fundamentalist base and possibly pull some independents into the fold.