If McCain loses, what do you think is the future of the GOP?

[Danger Mouse]

Poll question: If McCain loses, what do you think is the future of the GOP?

     The neoconservatives first raided the Republican party under Nixon, but didn't gain much traction until they signed an unholy pact with the fundies and helped usher in the Reagan revolution. This coalition of traditional conservatives, neocon warmongers, and religious whackjobs held a vicious sway over American politics until 2004. After Bush's re-election, things started going downhill for them. The fundies were angry that their agenda wasn't being catered to...they were given a lot of promises, but nothing to back it up. The traditional conservatives were angry at rampant government waste and corruption, and sick of Bush's incompetence. The only truly happy party were the neocons, who were raking in the cash hand over fist.
     As Bush's presidency slid further and further into ruin, the weird partnership between hawk, conservative, and nutjob was starting to crumble. It was a relationship that was doomed to fail, with time. McCain represented the GOP's last chance to salvage that relationship. His attempt to do this was to select Sarah Palin as his VP. This disastrous choice energized the fundies, but the conservatives were furious and the neocons were left slapping their foreheads in disbelief. Palin is so far right that she is toxic to the party. Traditional conservatives, who believe in small government and lowered spending, cannot truly support a big-government Constitution-shredding psycho like Palin.
     Now it seems inevitable that if McCain loses, the GOP will be in a serious state. Heck, even if he somehow wins, it won't cure the party's overall sickness. It is held together by three philosophies that don't gel. What it comes down to is...what do you think could happen if (when) McCain is sent packing? I've included what I think are the most likely scenarios. Personally, I think that Palin will hijack the party, drag it hard to the right, and the traditional conservatives will abandon the GOP and either form their own party or join the Libertarians. No longer having mainstream appeal, the GOP will gradually collapse in on itself, vanishing from American politics forever.