a year or two ago, a minor California Democratic Party honcha, Lila Garrett (not related to the actress as far as I know; see http://politicalgraveyard.com/bio/garrett.html) spoke to the secular-Jewish group I belong to. She was filled with conspiracy theories (including the idea that Paul Wellstone had been assasinated by GOP operatives). To try to get away from the self-destructive conspiratorial mind-set, I asked her a question: what about the idea of trying to exploit divisions within the GOP, e.g., between free-market "libertarians" and traditionalists in order to build her party's strength. She hadn't heard such an idea! (isn't the phrase "wedge issue" common knowledge among politicos and politicas?)
JD