As a Cubs fan, I'm willing to tolerate such "wait-till-next-year" naivete in sports, but not in politics. Spend a year or two in Washington and you'll change your tune.
Bush's actions of late generally endanger the advance of conservatism. You can't win in the wake of a termed-out incumbent from your own party by repudiating the incumbent. Stevenson tried it in 1952 and got trounced. Gore sort of tried it in 2000, and it might have contributed to his loss.
Once you create new entitlements and such, there's no going back, or else you just look like a liar. Your ideology is irretrievably lost.