As long as there are only two viable parties in our political system, the Republican Party will always be a major factor. Our system isn't designed to service more than two major political parties, so there is always going to be that "other" place that people will flock to when it comes to making a choice. And the Democrats make it very easy for a Republican Party to sustain itself because as the Republicans have a tendency to embrace very specific agendas, the Democratic Party tends to cater to so many different thought processes that potential members often see themselves outside of the party with no alternative but to choose the one party that consistently challenges anything the Democrats put up at any specific time.

That's why the horrible people running the Republican Party still remain viable; they're not the Democrats, which gives them a lifeline as long as they maintain at least a semblance of what members of that party desire.