“If we can’t see how we got to Obama there is no way we will get rid of him or his ilk”
That’s not even remotely true. I don’t have to know how I got an infection to know how to cure it. “Gosh, my finger is cut and all red and infected. I better figure out how it got that way before I apply antibiotic ointment and a bandaid.”
That's not even remotely analogous. One is a political movement based on philosophy, personal morals and social science and the other simple biology.
However, if you want to we can use it. If you have ever cut your finger before and it got infected then you SHOULD have learned how to prevent a second infection following a cut. If you didn't then you are one of several things: Intellectually incapable of understanding how it happened. Or, too lazy to find out how. Or, believe that you are infallible and it could not possibly happen to you.
All of which represent the mindset of the American electorate. Either we learned that conservatism is good for us. Or, we were intellectually lazy, incapable of understanding the difference or believed that Obama wasn't really all that bad.
All three cases can be applied to the GOP.
Under Bush the GOP was too lazy to force him toward conservatism and they though they had it licked and could not lose. Add to that that the GOP didn't, ever, try to educate the American electorate about conservatism it led us to Obama.
There is ample evidence that Bush's laissez faire attitude toward ANY push TOWARDS conservatism turned the GOP into a schizophrenic party.
Look at the results. We have formerly conservative pundits writing almost daily how WE have to become like them. Some are even siding up with Obama. We have conservative voters who don't have any idea what the GOP stands for anymore.
This is kind the whole point of Rush's speech. The idea of conservatism is not dead. The idea cannot die but it must be more than an idea. We need people to espouse it not just talk about it.
Imagine the difference if Bush, with a GOP Congress, had gone on the offensive like Obama has? Would we have suffered through that horrible inauguration speech in January?