HELENA -- The Montana Republicans who once ruled state politics meet here beginning Thursday to try to repair a party suffering from political infighting, upsets at the polls and a series of public gaffes.

They'll elect a new party leader and try to solidify a team that has not seen eye-to-eye.

But their biggest task is preparing for the 2008 elections without any clear challengers for Democratic Gov. Brian Schweitzer and U.S. Sen. Max Baucus.

"Where are the leaders? Where is the person who can take on Brian Schweitzer?" asked Rep. Roger Koopman, R-Bozeman.

He worried there may be a "malaise in the party after getting beat to death in the last legislative session."

The Legislature was far from a success for Republicans, even though they held a very slim majority in the House.

Schweitzer got most of the initiatives he sought, frustrating Republicans. And before the GOP adjourned, members publicly fired majority leader Rep. Michael Lange of Billings in a deeply divided caucus.

Ironically, Lange is the only person openly talking about announcing soon for one of the top two races. Lange started this week with another explanation for telling the governor to "stick it" in a profanity-laced tirade, saying that he was upset about Schweitzer's "direct intimidation of certain Republican legislators."

"I don't react well to people who threaten my family, my friends or the people I represent, and that includes my colleagues," Lange wrote.

Democrats are sitting on the sidelines, expecting the Republican troubles to spill over into the 2008 elections.

"Any party would be deeply concerned about the future in that situation," Jim Farrell, executive director of state Democrats, said of the Republicans.

Even many Democrats agree that Republicans still hold a natural advantage in state elections with more conservative-leaning voters, but that has not parlayed into many wins at the polls lately.

U.S. Rep. Denny Rehberg's chief of staff is running for party chairman. The move helps ink the congressman's new position atop Republican politics after former U.S. Sen. Conrad Burns was ousted by Democrat Jon Tester in November -- another painful loss for the GOP.

Rehberg said they are embarking on a "transformation" of the state GOP. "As a party we need to kind of revitalize ourselves," he said.

For example, Democrats have seized a big advantage among bloggers and that needs to be challenged, Rehberg said. At the same time, the party needs to articulate its core principals to voters.

"I think the people of Montana will see real change in the Republican party for the better," he said. "This kind of change does not happen overnight."

Erik Iverson, Rehberg's chief of staff, said he will be talking about party unity as he runs unopposed for party chair.

"I don't think the differences are all that big," he said. "We're a family, like any family you can have disagreements and different opinions."

Iverson said he wants the Republicans to be more inclusive, reaching out to college campuses, Indian reservations and other Democratic strongholds.

"We have to change our rhetoric. It's time to change the tone in Helena," he said. "It's about being more civil. It's about not letting policy differences get personal."

The bigger tent of Republicans apparently didn't include Lt. Gov. John Bohlinger, who served three terms in the state House and two in the Senate as a Republican before running for lieutenant governor on a Democratic ticket with Schweitzer. Bohlinger, saying he wanted to reconnect with old Republican friends, was denied tickets to a convention dinner on the grounds he is now playing for the other team.

Both Rehberg and Iverson said the party needs to be built from the bottom up, whether or not credible challengers for the top races materialize for 2008.

But there may be disputes looming about who actually deserves to be a Republican.

The more avowed conservatives, like Koopman, don't want just anyone. Koopman said he doesn't want to see another Marc Racicot -- the wildly popular Republican governor during the 1990s and former Republican National Committee chair -- because he was too "liberal."

"Where is the vanguard of freedom that is going to stand up and articulate that message of conservatism?" he asked.

Koopman said some people have asked him to run for governor, a move he would consider only amid a groundswell of support for his candidacy.

Iverson, assuming he wins the job Saturday as expected, clearly faces a challenge.

He said the state party will get a full-time communications director and other positions to hone a message of limited government and lower taxes to take advantage of the built-in edge Republicans have philosophically with state voters.

And he said he will actively discourage attempts to challenge fellow Republicans, what he called "a recipe for making us a permanent minority party in the state of Montana."

"For us to be eating our own makes no sense," he said. "We've got to remember who the opposition is, and the opposition is not us."