Rebuilding The GOP From November's Ashes

As I've mentioned before, SC Gov. Mark Sanford is the highest-ranking libertarian in the United States, agrees w/ Dr. Paul on 99% of the issues, and provides the best near-term hope of getting a libertarian in the White House. Despite his stances, the MSM has been floating the idea of McCain picking Sanford to prevent libertarians from defecting to the LP ticket (if it's Barr) or Obama. Today, TNR's The Plank pointed out how absurd such a notion would be:

McCain, of course, has also voiced displeasure with some aspects of Bush's record in this regard, so perhaps it's not as implausible a choice as it might seem. But given that the Republican Party's intellectual establishment has wedded itself to a theory of untrammeled executive power as a response to the ongoing war on terror, one wonders if the fiscal conservatives championing Sanford realize that in many respects, when it comes to the role of the state, he's a quasi–civil libertarian who's closer to Ron Paul and Bob Barr than to any other major figure in the party.

TNR Also had a short interview w/ Sanford after a recent CATO event, where he called 'liberty' the 'ultimate homeland security':

TNR: What sort of sacrifices is it reasonable to ask citizens to make in the war on terror, in terms of privacy? Is there anything that citizens will have to give up, compared to what they were used to before 9/11?
MS: I don't see 9/11 as a seminal event in that regard. Liberty is the ultimate homeland security, and anybody who promises, 'I can take care of this problem for you,' at the end of the day, I don't think is telling the truth. … Tragically, post-9/11, there's been a lot of earnest, well-intentioned but ultimately destructive activity that expanded federal power inappropriately and encroached upon state authority.
TNR: How would you assess President Bush's record in the realm of homeland security and the war on terror?
MS: History will be the ultimate judge. I will say, though, that I unabashedly come from the conservative side of the ledger. I think that some of his policies not been particularly conservative in their approach. In the long run, I believe that that undermines both homeland security and liberty.

After the GOP implodes in November, the Ron Paulians and the Huckabites will rebuild the party -- they are the only GOP grassroots left. If McCain does indeed lose (he may still win while the GOP loses 6 Senate seats and 15 - 20 House Seats), we should be able to utilize the rEVOLution for a Sanford 2012 run. But a McCain loss may require Bob Barr on the LP ticket to sandbag McCain in key swing states by taking 5 - 10% of the vote away from him -- making the LP race all the more important.