Driving the GOP too far to the right could mean trouble in 2012

Peter Beinart has a good article suggesting that the GOP could face big trouble if it goes too far to the right for a Presidential candidate in 2012. Basically, he's saying that someone like a Sarah Palin would be the 2012 Republican equivalent of George McGovern in 1968. I don't know that I agree 100% with his analysis, but I think he does have his history basically right and it is something that the Republican party has to be aware of. I'm really distressed by this push for ideological purity right now. The Republican party can't win national elections without getting votes from the center and going too far overboard on the social issues will lose the center for sure.