Thomas Edsall - writing in the NYT - thinks so. Historically, Republican Party voters have been - in his words - compliant to the needs of the electorate, but no longer seems to be the case. The recent election in South Carolina, which generally votes for the eventual nominee, went with Newt Gingrich this time. He analyzes changes within the party, as well as the electoral system, that has led to this change.
The typical Republican primary voter is more white and evangelical than it has been in the past.
The rise of evangelicals might be the most significant change:
In an analysis of the contests so far,
the Faith and Freedom Coalition found that evangelicals are now a
majority, 50.53 percent, of all Republican presidential primary voters.
The ascendance of the religious right has produced “the highest
percentage recorded in a presidential nominating process, 4.29 million
votes out of 8.49 million cast,” according to the coalition.
