Talk politics.

Well, let's be honest here: Republicans have always been, as a group, incredibly vindictive against anyone they feel has "transgressed" or who doesn't agree with their positions. It's obvious when you look at how they treat people of color, LGBT people, women and other minorities. Or when you look at things like how they target people on welfare and try to turn the public against them (the sad part is, that's worked). It's even more obvious when you look at the targeted voter disenfranchisement they attempted this election. I wasn't surprised in the least to hear of Republicans laying off workers and otherwise pulling nasty, vindictive bullshit in the wake of Obama's reelection - there were messages going around that night and the next day for women and, particularly, people of color to stay indoors because angry Republicans might hurt or harass them, for fuck's sake.

So yeah, you say the Republicans are "on the verge of stepping off one hell of an ideological cliff." I'd argue they've already fallen, but they haven't figured it out yet. They run on a platform of racism, sexism, homophobia, transphobia, classism, and murder. It doesn't get much plainer than that.