These are rough days for Republicans as they try to reorganize and come up with a winning message.

One of the first rules of land navigation is if you get lost, try to return to a known point and then navigate from there. From this article about Newt, that may apply to politics, too.

The difficulty is Republicans are in the same boat as a football coach who once believed in a theory of offense called the Single Wing. The Single Wing has long been superseded by variations of what is known as the T formation. The Single Wing might be used to temporarily confuse a defense, but is long term inferior to the T formation. Republicans are advocates of the Single Wing. To compete, they must learn adapt their philosophy to incorporate politically the T formation. If they don't, they're going to see their party go the way of the Whigs.

Here's the article.

http://www.nytimes.com/2009/03/01/magazine/01republicans-t.html?th&emc=th