It struck me - what you said. I think the fundamental problem is the nature of conservatism. It’s the relucttance of good and decent and capable men and women from tossing their hats into the ring. While liberals have a more activist streak. The problem is we start all these races as non-starters. Right now someone in the RNC with a brain should be looking at recruiting well-tuned persons to run against these clowns, especially when you have one of the corrupt idiocy of Blagojevich or Canadian Granholm.
Conservatives need to be honest with themselves on what works and what does not work. Simply repeating Reagan’s speeches won’t cut it. The Country that elected Reagan and the circumstances that aided no longer exist in America. Reagan won the West Coast, Upper Midwest, and New England not because of social issues like abortion, Creationism, and school prayer. The Country during 1980 was disillusioned with Carter’s failures with foreign policy. The Reagan Dems (blue collar Eastern Euro immigrants) wanted someone tough against Communism. Reagan fitted the bill. When Communism fell in the early 1990’s, the Reagan Dems went back to being just Dems. Thus the Reagan Coalition isn’t coming back. The Conservatives need to find new ideas to appeal to the new generation of voters.