“Aligning our political message with the population is.”
You sure have that turned around. You can NOT lead from behind. Massive fail. Greece does that. Go live there.
Romney was excellent in this campaign. He articulated a good conservative economic message. But, the reason he lost is because he did not make people feel like he cared enough about the needy and disadvantaged. That is the essence of compassion. Bush did it brilliantly. You can live in alternate reality. But, that won’t win national elections.