After taking a drubbing, the GOP in Iowa as well as the rest of the country has some self-examination to do.

The losses piled up for Iowa Republicans on Election Day, and Iowa voters went for a Democratic presidential candidate for the first time since 2000.

Republicans lost seats in the Iowa House and Senate, allowing Democrats to increase their majorities in both chambers.

If the GOP saw a bright spot in Iowa, it was that they didn't lose any of their congressional seats. Steve King and Tom Latham both survived challenges, beating their Democratic opponents by wide margins.

That shows both candidates are probably safe in their more conservative districts, but the Iowa GOP will need to show it has wider appeal if it wants to start winning statewide elections again.

Republicans knew they were in trouble long before voters headed to the ballot box.

The purge of GOP leadership in the state began even before then, when two social conservatives replaced two party insiders as the state's representatives for the Republican National Committee.

Since the party's election losses, two Sioux City Republicans who led their caucuses in the Legislature are out of their positions - Christopher Rants in the House and Ron Wieck in the Senate.

Republican Party of Iowa Chairman Stewart Iverson is also stepping down from his role.

Republicans are faced with the perennial question for the party out of power: Is it time to return to the party's core beliefs or re-examine those beliefs to see if they reflect the majority of the electorate?

The party faithful want to return to their roots as the party of lower taxes, smaller government and personal responsibility. They think the deficits in Washington have cost their party credibility, and a return to fiscal discipline can bring back into the fold voters who care about smart spending policies.

That's a message that might be particularly effective two years from now after a Democratic lock on power at both the state and national level.

The GOP can also hope the economic downturn will be on the upswing by then and voters are less moved by promises of economic help from Democratic candidates.

The moderate wing of the party thinks it's time Republicans stop applying a litmus test to candidates on issues such as abortion and gay rights.

But social conservatives point out the party is built on pro-life and pro-family values and that stepping away from strong positions on those issues is abandoning what the party stands for. Strategists know if they can't excite the party base of social conservatives, it's hard to win.

Republicans also have 2012 to think about, a contest that's already shaping up with visits to Iowa by presidential hopefuls.

It might take an emerging GOP star piecing together an unlikely victory to give Republicans a road map on how to win again.

Until that happens though, we'll continue to see a lot of finger-pointing and squabbles over the future of the party.

Time in the wilderness can help Republicans come to more practical realizations about what they face. You can't spread your party's ideals very effectively if you can't win elections.