Back in the Reagan era, the Republican Party advertised itself as a "big tent," a collection of conservatives, independents, recovering liberals, even Reagan Democrats. Today, by comparison, it's little more than a pup tent.

Much is made of the Grand Old Party's latest evidence of shrinkage -- Pennsylvania Sen. Arlen Specter's defection to the Democrats. Too little is made of the fact that in Obama's Washington the GOP is increasingly irrelevant at a time of great crisis when a vibrant opposition voice is vital.

It's not good for the country. One-party dominance has too often been a recipe for recklessness. The most alarming aspect of the GOP's steep decline is the seeming indifference of its elected leadership and its Greek chorus in the right-wing media. "Good riddance!" was the response of many to Specter's departure. Rush Limbaugh, Grand Poobah of conservative TV cacklers, even suggested Specter take Sen. John McCain out the door with him.

A look at the map suggests this is not a party that can afford to lose anyone, even Sarah Palin.

Recent elections have left it representing a bit of the farm belt and little more than the Old Confederacy; even there, it lost three of the Old South's four biggest states last year, Florida, Virginia and North Carolina. Republicans are an endangered species all along the West Coast and have suffered grievous losses in the Midwest and the Middle Atlantic states and even in parts of their Rocky Mountain stronghold.

In New England they're beyond endangered; they're all but extinct.

There's no mystery why Republicans, like Lewis Carroll's Cheshire Cat, are slowly disappearing, grinning as they do. It's their quest for ultra-conservative ideological conformity. As Specter put it: "They don't make any bones about their willingness to lose the general election if they can purify the party." He cited the purging of popular GOP moderates in party primaries in Rhode Island and New Mexico that led to Senate general election defeats.

The party lacks the two things normally deemed essential to political success: nimble, attractive leaders and a message right for the times.

Its Congressional leaders, Sen. Mitch McConnell and Rep. John Boehner, have all the appeal of a pair of androids. The party chairman, Michael Steele, is working toward a black belt in malapropisms. And what damage Limbaugh doesn't do to the party image, Dick Cheney does.

As toxic assets, they're a match for any held by Wall Street's most busted banks.

But it's on the vital subject of message that the GOP is most clearly bankrupt. Its all-purpose cure for everything that ails the country is tax cuts and/or reduced government spending. That won't do; it might if times were good, but not now, with the economy on dead stop and needing a jolt.

Moreover, the public is wise to the GOP's blanket opposition to the Obama program. A CBS News-NY Times poll reports that 70 percent of those surveyed believe the opposition is motivated primarily by politics, not principle.

In time, GOP fortunes will rebound. But not without new leadership, new ideas, and a new welcome for viewpoints other than those of Rush Limbaugh. South Carolina Republican Sen. Lindsey Graham put it must pithily.

"We have to find places in the party," he said, "for people who couldn't win in South Carolina."