""It's been over 18 years since Reagan left the White House, and there has not been one truly conservative leader to emerge to take his place -- in 18 years! And I don't see any on the immediate horizon. The sorry truth is that conservatism isn't a viable political philosophy nationally at the moment because there isn't a viable national conservative leader.""
You are correct.
Reagan was the great communicator and combined with his principles and optimism he was unstoppable.
The GOP abandoned Reagan's conservatism by watering down his ideas and message in favor of bi-partisanship.
The next time the GOP embraced conservatism was Gingrich and his contract with America and we won a huge victory again. That too was watered down and faded by poor communication and bi-partisanship.
My point? Conservatism wins when the message is clear. The problem is not our ideas...... it's sustaining those ideas with unwavering candidates who promote ideas instead of trying to meet the left in the middle.
Makings for a GREAT tag line.
Newt should have been the rightful heir to the Reagan legacy, but he shot himself in the foot with his personal life. Too bad. And the Republican Congress started going soft when Newt resigned. The Democrats don't win on their own merit, but only by tearing down Republican leadership. He would have been my first choice for president this year. He says all the right things, and is Reaganesque in his optimism and clear articulation of the values of America, but I don't know that he can overcome the baggage, nor do I think he has any illusions of winning the presidency.