Ayn Rand wrote that when the weight of the world is stacked against you, the best course of action is not to engage in futile battles, but simply to withdraw your support. For an entire generation, the Republican name has become inextricably tied to Ronald Reagan, George Bush and the warfare state they stood for. So it is time for libertarians and principled limited government conservatives to simply walk away. Reforming the Republican Party from the inside would take far too much time and effort and involves a give-and-take process in which the give far outweighs the take. Witness the Ron Paul delegates to the Republican National Convention, who, in a vain attempt to win “respectability,” cast their votes for the neocon John McCain. If ever there was a betrayal of principle, it was this. In fact, the longer libertarians and the libertarian-minded stay within the Republican fold, the more vulnerable they will become to charges of hypocrisy.

My two cents: It’s a call for abandoning the GOP.

But the Libertarian Party has existed for decades as an option for “libertarians and the libertarian-minded.” This subset of the GOP has rejected the LP. They rejected Ron Paul. These folks aren’t going to wake up tomorrow as Ron Paul supporters.

I think the alternative to the GOP might very well be the new Modern Whig Party.