A Thirty Year Drought For Conservatives

     The mid-term election is just over a month away, and Republicans are hoping they can maintain their majority in the House and wrestle control of the Senate away from Democrats. Democrats are pleading with their base to get out and vote or else, in the words of Nancy Pelosi, "It will be the end of civilization as we know it." The former Speaker of the House's hyperbole aside, this election is very important to the future of the United States. But is also an anniversary of sorts.
     This mid-term election marks the thirtieth anniversary of the last time that the Republican Party ran a conservative for the presidency, a man by the name of Ronald Reagan. In the subsequent seven presidential elections, the Republicans' moderate candidates only came out on top three times. One of those electoral victories was in 1988 when George H. W. Bush benefited from being President Reagan's number two for eight years, as well as the Democrats running the thoroughly unelectable Michael Dukakis.
     The other two presidential wins for the Republicans was George W. Bush, who benefited in 2000 from having as his opponent, Vice President Al Gore, who was sullied by the stain of President Clinton's impeachment. In 2004, Mr. Bush benefited from being a wartime president whom the public did not want to kick out of office mid stream. He also benefited greatly from the Democrats decision to run John Kerry, the man who could have been the understudy to Lurch on the Adams Family.
     Even though this year's mid-terms are not about the president, they are a prelude to the presidential campaign of 2016. An election that Republicans are going to have a hard time winning if they choose a moderate. The Democrats have the distinct advantage of having thoroughly transformed the agencies of the federal government, like the Internal Revenue Service, into electoral shills for whomever is the Democrat nominee in that election. The Republicans are going to have to win convincingly to counter the cheating in which the Democrats are sure to engage.
     The road to an overwhelming victory for Republicans is paved with the concrete of conservatism, not the loose gravel of moderation. We will know the outcome of the 2016 election by the end of the Republican primary process. If a Jeb Bush, Chris Christie, or Rob Portman is the nominee, the election is lost. If the Republican base is successful in choosing the nominee instead of the establishment, then the 32 year drought for conservatives will end with the deluge of electoral victory and the long dry spell will be washed away. This will not only be a victory for conservatives, but for the country and the cause of Liberty.