My suspicion is that some news outlets that are receptive to Republican messages will buy the line -- the GOP is moving to the mainstream. They'll even support it by pointing to things like CPAC scrapping a panel discussion on the president's birth certificate (while accepting Birchers as an official co-sponsor of the event).
All the while, fringe ideas and extremist personalities continue to drive the party and its message. For crying out loud, last week, Rep. Steve King (R-Iowa) offered praise for a lunatic who flew an airplane into a building, and faced no criticism from his party whatsoever. Indeed, a year from now, if Republicans take the House majority, Steve King will be the chairman of the Judiciary Committee's panel on Immigration, Citizenship, Refugees, Border Security, and International Law -- and no one in GOP circles will find that insane.
Rep. Trent Franks (R-Ariz.) said African Americans were better under slavery, and he too received no criticism from his party at all -- and is also positioned to be a House Judiciary subcommittee chairman if Republicans are in the majority next year.
The idea of Republicans and conservatives in general purging the radicals seems sensible, right up until one appreciates the fact that it's too late -- the inmates are already running the asylum.