To have a successful future, it helps to understand the past.

First, let’s understand that conservatives and conservatism did not lose last November.

The election loss was a direct result of the Republican Party and its leadership in the White House and Congress moving left.

The Republicans became that which they beheld.

[...]

Goldwater became our hero when he and he alone in Washington stood up and criticized the Republicans for their big government policies.

On the floor of the Senate in 1960, he said President Eisenhower was running a dime store New Deal.

He spoke truth to power. Where is the Republican Presidential candidate that has stood up publicly to the big government Republican leaders in the last 6 years?

And if they haven’t stood up for conservative principles in the last 6 years, they won’t start if they become President.

And Reagan regularly criticized Presidents Nixon and Ford.

And the second test is, tell me who you walk with and I’ll tell you who you are.

Reagan walked with conservatives- long before he ran for President in 1976; he was at our meetings, our receptions, and our rallies.

And surrounding Reagan were conservative stars Lyn Nofziger, Marty Anderson, Dick Allen, Ed Meese, Judge Clark, Joe Coors, and many others.

If conservatives have not been around a Republican Presidential candidate before he began asking for our votes, I guarantee you conservatives will not be around him if he moves into the White House.

And I promise you; you will not have conservative policies or conservative programs without conservative personnel.

I don’t know about you, but I’m angry and I feel betrayed, but fortunately there are things we conservatives can do to become a governing majority in America.

However, it’s not likely to happen quickly, certainly not by 2008.

One of the strengths of the conservative movement is we’ve always approached politics as a marathon, not a sprint.

It may take 6-10 years for conservatives to be able to govern America.