WASHINGTON — A day after their worst electoral drubbing in more than three decades, Republicans began a difficult and potentially divisive search for a path out of a dark political wilderness.
And with the fall of John McCain and President Bush from the top of the party, a debate is emerging among competing GOP factions over who should pick up the Republican standard.
Alaska Gov. Sarah Palin, whose positions on abortion and gun rights helped energize the Republican base during the presidential campaign, has already been embraced by many social conservatives.
Others, including champions of small government, see hope in Louisiana Gov. Bobby Jindal or Minnesota Gov. Tim Pawlenty. Some in the shrinking moderate wing of the party are looking to Florida Gov. Charlie Crist.
Also contending for party leadership could be former Massachusetts Gov. Mitt Romney and former Arkansas Gov. Mike Huckabee, who both lost bids for the GOP presidential nomination this year, as well as former House Speaker Newt Gingrich.
But as Republicans struggle to come to terms with their status as a powerless party in Washington, it is not clear how the GOP will define itself, let alone who will lead it.
"Everybody understands that we are going to go through a period of reexamining our identity," said Kevin Madden, a former aide to House Minority Leader John Boehner (R-Ohio) who worked on Romney's presidential campaign.
"We are going to have to figure out how to rebuild the greater coalition of Republicans and independents and conservative Democrats on issues that really matter to voters," Madden said.
That could be even more difficult as Republicans try to reestablish themselves in opposition to the new president. Barack Obama appropriated GOP messages about taxes and reform during the presidential campaign and may not push as liberal an agenda as many Republicans hope.
"Nancy Pelosi and Harry Reid may go off the deep end," said veteran GOP strategist Tony Fabrizio, referring to the Democratic House speaker and Senate majority leader. "But Obama is a very, very skillful politician. Why do we think he will suddenly become a dope . . . by lurching to the left?"
Amid the hand-wringing Wednesday, conservative thinkers who helped fashion the Republican rise to power a decade ago were already moving to shape the debate about renewing it.
