We splintered in 1992. Your essay completely ignores Perot and his con job that got Clinton elected.
Also, never forget the impact the coddling of murderous maniacs and the abolition of the death penalty by activist judges had on the conservative movement. By the late seventies, crime was a much bigger issue than busing.
Once the dust settled after the 1992 election and the pollsters were able to reconstruct what happened, they concluded that Ross Perot did not elect Bill Clinton. He did, however, deny Clinton a popular vote majority and thus any claim of a mandate.