First things first, America isn’t an elected dictatorship. In some ways it may look that way, but there are checks and balances on power that keep one person from redefining the nation. It’s a folly to think that electing one strong conservative who ‘owes nothing’ to corporations or special interests will somehow roll back the last seventy years of encroaching statism. This is like trying to counteract Obama with a bizzaro-Obama. Didn’t work for bizzaro superman, didn’t work for bizzaro Kirk, won’t work here either. Rand Paul may be a good candidate for senate, but he won’t be the next Ronald Regan and shouldn’t try to be (and for all his skills and achievements, Regan couldn’t achieve those dramatic cuts in government.)
The lack of a strong central figure to counterbalance the current regime is a strength, but it won’t remain one. A groundswell of citizens who wouldn’t previously be drawn to political action will be the strength of conservatives. They have to elect - at all levels of government from the local offices up to national elections - candidates that are honest, believe in the values of the constitution, and have the courage to stand up for them when they are unpopular.
Most importantly, the groundswell must be able to sustain losses. If the predicted gains in the house in 2010 and 2012 don’t materialize in as dramatic a fashion, the grassroots activism and involvement in politics by the average American must continue. Conservatives don’t lose when they get knocked down, and to take a lesson from Regan’s loss to Ford in the ‘76 presidential primary, conservatives lose when they don’t keep getting up.