The two stalwarts of conservatism over the last 25 years have been Ronald Reagan and Newt Gingrich. Period. They were great political leaders, advancing a conservative revolution. Newt and Dick Armey built the Contract With America fromv policy speeches given by Ronald Reagan. And with the right leadership, the GOP can have a Reagan agenda once again to build on for the future.
Sorry, not conservative enough for the folks here, Reagan and Gingrich are downright socialists according to the prevailing purist standards.
Gingrich did the "drunken sailor" thing and backed the socialist Medicare D.
Reagan would never make it to the White House... as governor he raised taxes, passed gun control and signed abortion law that caused the number of abortions to surge in CA. And forget immigration, as President Reagan signed a massive amnesty for illegal aliens.
I'm not quite sure who is perfect ENOUGH to meet the standards around here anymore, but Gingrich and Reagan wouldn't survive any purist primaries nowadays. Too pragmatic, and that is just "selling out" and "no principles", ya know.
Again, nobody wants to talk about the backlash against social conservatism, an issue which Armey brought up just before the election.