Not a winning coalition on its own. Conservatism governs, when it governs, not because most of the electorate is true blue and committed, but because plenty of people who are not ideological conservatives - many of them largely uninterested in politics at all, in fact - vote for our guys because and when we are offering policies and leadership that the whole country clearly needs. Not clearly needs to committed conservatives, but clearly needs to common sense, the meanest capacity, plain as the nose on your face etc. Like when Carter has everyone in gas lines and is being pushed around by Iranian thugs...