I think you are right and have perhaps expanded on what I was alluding to. However, I think calling the libertarian movement the Republicans' salvation might be a mistake. I'm not sure there is a leader within that leadership sect that is not, in fact, batshit crazy on other aspects. From what's available in the media, it seems that a lot of Libertarians place a considerable amount of weight on "personal freedoms" that include really anti-science perspectives like "don't do vaccinations" or "it's okay to legislate the bible in schools". I'm glad you pointed out the fact that the South voted Democrat once upon a time. I think the Civil Rights Act was a prescient event in American Political Discourse, and an event that put what, at the time, was the libertarian wing in the Republican Party on the wrong side of history. In any case, and maybe the point of what I'm saying, is that party dominance on issues is not permanent. It changes over time.