” In my voting lifetime, there were vestiges of conservatism articulated in 80, 84, 94 and 2010. Seems to me we did alright in all of those.”
Correct. Reagan was the last guy running for POTUS to say that government WAS the problem, and then go on to articulate it for the common man. Romney never articulated anything. If Romney had done what you suggested, he would have won.
Reagan also knew how to bring Social Conservatives and Fiscal Conservatives together, no Republican has come close to doing that since.