Fred Barnes is lost in the ozone. This is all about leadership.
When political conservatism is advanced, it triumphs over liberalism. PresReagan didn't have a GOP Congress, yet he changed the direction of American politics and set a conservative governing course for America. In 1994 Newt Gingrich came along and won a huge victory for conservatism and the GOP.
The course that PresBush and the GOP Congress has set for the future of the federal government is not a direction that will advance a conservative agenda. The federal government is headed down a path of increased welfare entitlement spending and a larger federal bureaucracy. Not to mention, a ongoing liberal policy of open borders and amnesty for criminal immigrants.
While the liberals and their media cohorts make a lot of noise, they have no power. The GOP controls the whole show in WashDC, however, they haven't used that power to craft a conservative government. The GOP has basically wasted an historic opportunity to reshape American politics.
Which is the major reason that approval ratings for Congress and the President are in the toilet.