What's going on in the Republican Party?

Could it be true that the Republican Party is intentionally committing suicide? That's what a lot of folks are saying and some Republicans are crying foul. A culture war is raging within the party, and a lot of good people are being booted. Who benefits? The Democrats, of course, but other consequences also could result.

A growing number of hardcore conservative Republicans are banding together to get rid of moderate Republicans. Florida Gov. Charlie Crist is one such moderate in the crosshairs. Mitt Romney and others are also targets.

In last Tuesday's congressional election in upstate New York, this group of conservatives fought against the moderate Republican candidate. As a result, for the first time in a century, a Democrat now holds that congressional seat.

This same group also wants to run an ultra-conservative against a more moderate Republican Carly Fiorina, former CEO of Hewlett Packard, in liberal California for a Senate primary. It's doubtful either candidate could win, but the only hope of a Republican taking that seat would be Fiorina, a widely respected and well known business woman. Sen. John McCain considered Fiorina as a running mate.

This political war, if it continues, will all but destroy the Republican Party. An ultra-conservative party might please a few of the faithful, but the Republicans will never be in the majority of anything again if they keep this up.

Democrats obviously will love this nastiness and seeing independent voters come to them. But maybe there really is a silver lining. Perhaps a viable third party can challenge both the Democrats and the Republicans. That's what's really needed.

The difficulty with a third party is that even when they are formed by people with great intentions, often they are hijacked and become too extreme for the general population. That's what happened with the Reform Party that Ross Perot started.

It's amazing to see some Republicans doing this to their own party. It doesn't make sense. But they're apparently enjoying "purifying" their party. So much for the big-tent approach.