The future of the Republican Party:
Reeling in from the shock of the big loss on Tuesday, the GOP will begin wondering what it can do to salvage the party. Most of the big GOP stars like Reagan, Helms, Gingrich, DeLay, Dole, Frist, etc. are either dead, retired, or disgraced from ever returning to office. Their talent pool has shrunken considerably and now there is no leadership to whip up a frenzy in the party.
That will begin the fight between the Neocons, led by Romney and Giuliani and the Theocons, led by Palin and Jindal. Both will believe that the party didn't move far enough to the right. Both factions will fight to see who rules. We'll see a breakdown of the frail leadership left as they try to outfund and outmaneuver their rival factions.
Palin will go on the media circuit, maybe have a book ghostwritten for her, and try to smooth out the edges of her persona. They like how she can rejuvenate her base without making them feel bad but her lack of experience is

Being funded by grass roots fundies, she will get expert advice from Republicans who know a couple things about foreign policy to tutor her. She's confidently stupid but even she knows that she's going to have to at least pretend to know what the fuck is going on. In the meantime, Mitt will try to raise as much money as possible to intimidate Palin from running in 2012. In the meantime, Fred Thompson and Rudy Giuliani express their dissatisfaction with Obama and that the GOP party is neither down or out and will make a lot of gains in 2010.
After a loss of more Senate and House seats in 2010, the GOP will put the future of their party in 2012. Palin and Romney will be in a dead heat with Giuliani and Thompson far behind. Palin will soon overcome as the evangelical base rallies around her. Bobby Jindal holds back but intends to be an integral part of Palin's cabinet. Obama's approval rating begins to slide as he is not a miracle maker and the economic and defense situation isn't to the exact liking of Americans. As the chinks in his armor begin to show, the GOP rallies around Palin and intends to exploit those few flaws to win in 2012. The future of the party depends on it.
Palin handily wins the 2012 primaries and has Romney or Giuliani as the VP. Called the GOP's Last Hope, Palin goes back to her 2008 mode and whips up racial tension. Without McCain's staff to reign her in, she oversteps the boundaries too far and loses a lot of her initial momentum as she ignores the huge problem she is creating. Rudy will try to fix things but finding that he can't really muzzle her like McCain could, the GOP immediately begins to crumble. Obama and Biden bring up the GOP's failed past and its insistence on using failed Republicans to win the White House. Palin ignores these attacks and keeps bringing up racial tensions and "You betcha" catchphrases to circle the wagons. Only as time goes on, there is less and less wagons for circling. Palin remains oblivious and Giuliani begins stressing out at the inevitable demise and begins to make gaffes of his own. At this point, Obama and Biden are 20 points ahead in many polls and is poised to get 2008 plus Arizona, Georgia, North Dakota, Missouri, and Montana.
For the election, Obama/Biden gets over 400 EVs while Palin/Giuliani gets 130 or less. The GOP makes modest gains in the House and maybe a seat or two in the Senate.
Rush Limbaugh retires, claiming that the GOP just won't listen to him, and several of the right wing pundits no longer support them. The remaining GOP members, even the wingnuts, realize the party is fucked. Palin is booted and disgraced. She loses her next term (whether it be Senator or Governor) and writes her off as a dark chapter in the GOP history. Giuliani retires from politics again. McCain will die around this election and before he does die, he will make several criticisms about Palin. The conservative powers that be realize that they are so far out of touch that they absolutely cannot afford to throw away 2016. They immediately being reforming and moving to the center, embracing issues that minorities can relate to and what working class people really want, besides hatred. Their movement towards the center draws criticism but considerable gains in the 2014 midterms.