I preferred a world where conservative writers and talkers could make arguments and toss out theories, while the Republican Party was responsible for getting our candidates elected. Chatterers could take dazzlingly outre positions without ever having to deal with the muss and bother of facing the voters. Our job was to change public opinion; Politicians’ job was to reflect it.

It’s easy to act on pure principle if you don’t have to win elections. Look at Barry Goldwater. He decided he had to be consistent, because if there’s one thing people vote on, it’s absolute consistency! In pursuit of purist libertarianism, Goldwater voted against the 1964 Civil Rights Act because of its restrictions on private businesses. He then went on to lose in a 44-state landslide. (The above remark about voters demanding consistency was ironic.)

Republicans woke up, got their act together, and won five of the next six presidential elections.

Recently, however, some of us noticed that national Republican committees have turned themselves into a Get-Rich-Quick scheme for political consultants. Instead of winning elections, a lot of consultants were more interested in lining their own bank accounts. Consequently, instead of making carefree arguments about privatizing lighthouses, the conservative chattering class had to add "electing Republicans” to their resumes because the party organizations had stopped doing that and somebody had to.

So far, the results have been catastrophic.

-SNIP-

Read more:http://www.breitbart.com/Big-Government/...t-win-elections

She is late to the party with this revelation.