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Philip Klein is a reporter for The American Spectator.

Jeffrey Lord

In 1992, as the Bush-Clinton race careened to an end, a newspaper story reported that Bush aides were seen “trudging” on and off Air Force One. Physical exhaustion, it was clear, had overtaken the Bush 41 team. Shortly thereafter, they lost.

Intellectual exhaustion has overtaken the Republican Party of 2008. But not, it should be said, the conservative movement. From the world of talk radio to its magazines, think tanks, and grassroots activists, the conservative universe is both intellectually sharp and forward-looking. It cannot escape notice (other than in the usual mainstream media quarters) that President-elect Obama felt compelled to campaign as a would-be tax-cutter who was tough as nails when it came to the idea of deploying American military might in Afghanistan or, if need be, to invade Pakistan.

This is nothing if not a testament to the continued power of Reagan conservatism, even if Obama’s devotion to tax-cutting and military strength is more political tactic than principle.

The real task ahead for conservatives is not to reinvigorate conservatism but for conservatism to breathe new life into the GOP itself as a party of ideas that deals imaginatively with the real-life concerns of Americans.

As always, the Democrats, this time led by Obama, Speaker Nancy Pelosi, and Senator Harry Reid, will provide plenty of ammunition. Despite the echoes of Reaganesque campaign language, the Obama White House and congressional Democrats will soon get themselves entangled in the political consequences of bad economic and energy policy at home while being dangerous appeasers abroad. More ominously for Obama, it is no accident that two of the last three Democratic presidents who openly governed from the left--LBJ and Jimmy Carter--found themselves under assault from erstwhile allies for not being left enough. (By pretending to centrism after the 1994 loss of Congress, Clinton avoided the fate.) Each time a split opened the way for new chapters in the resurgence of the modern, conservative GOP.

Personnel is policy when it comes to staffing administrations. The same holds true when a party is out of power. Positions such as chairman of the Republican National Committee demand the attention of someone who has both a creative understanding of the power of conservative ideas as well as the capability to implement a sharp, strategically and tactically sound, crystal-clear opposition agenda to the White House. The glaring weakness of the McCain campaign was McCain's feckless insistence on “reaching across the aisle” as opposed to being a Reagan-style leader of the conservative movement. Reagan wanted to win, McCain wanted to get along. Presumed to get mainstream media support and votes, the McCain approach got none.

It was a tell tale sign of intellectual exhaustion. It is not a mistake Republicans should make again.

Can you say “Chairman Newt”?

Jeffrey Lord is a former Reagan White House political director and author. He writes from Pennsylvania.

Grover G. Norquist

The Democrats have captured the White House, the House of Representatives, and the Senate. Now what?