It’s even worse than you say. Reagan was a big player in politics before 1960...and he was a star at Goldwater’s nomination I believe.
It takes a long time for a giant to grow.
And I don’t even see any beanstalks right now, much less budding giants.
The seeds are being planted with this election. Many conservatives are just now coming to terms with the fact that we are not important to the Republican party.
In hindsight, I think we made a mistake in tying our future to any political party.