There is a landslide election coming of monumental proportions and of both repairable and irreparable damages to the houses of Republicans, Conservatives, and  George W. Bush.  All three of the houses are at fault for not protecting their individual houses.  The House of Conservatism sees what is going on and is both lashing out and beginning to repair the damages.  The House of the Republican Party has got half a foot in the house and half a foot outside searching for its way.  This House will be severely damaged but will be able to repair itself over time.  The House of Bush will be destroyed along with George W.’s legacy.

            All three of the Houses that drive conservatism at this point in time share blame for the current fiasco that pits an honorable war hero of immense political staleness versus a vibrant up and comer, known as the new Sir Galahad of the American Story.  However, to understand this story we have to first look at the dynamic that is driving this tectonic shift.  We are in a War on Terror as well as a War in Iraq.  Though the two may or may not be inextricably linked, depending on your view and intensity for the War on Terror, what is known is that the War in Iraq is unpopular, misunderstood, winnable, yet politically nonviable.

            The debate will rage on the War in Iraq through perpetuity.  What is not debatable is that the war has enraged and activated the liberal base of the Democrat Party, who in alliance with the mainstream liberal media, have coalesced a broad anti-war populism within the American electorate.  This dynamic drives not only the House of Bush legacy into the abyss of history, but is also the driver of the fall of the conservative movement and the Republican Party.  This deserves noting because one must understand that Bush’s Presidency was defined by the War on Terror and failed miserably on other policy issues, both to mainstream America and conservatives who have been gnashing their teeth over his acceptance of huge waves of illegal immigrants over, around and through our borders; immense spending bills that have surpassed Bill Clinton’s rate of spending growth; and amateurish Rovian political slips such as the attempt to nominate Harriet Miers to the Supreme Court.

            The glaring failure of President Bush was a simple one:  he failed to communicate clearly to the nation that we are in a war that is winnable and must be won.  Ironically, Bush’s ability to sound “down home” and speak to the American people with a simple voice was the strength of Bush the politician and President.  Where was Rove, the great one?  Is he the most overrated political persona of the last eight years?  How could Karl Rove not understand this central facet of waging war?  Remember FDR fireside chats, Churchillian radio broadcasts about “blood, toil, and tears”.  There was none of this from Bush.  He did not wage a PR campaign of regular talks to the American people.  Reagan is gone forever, but these are the basics and fundamentals, like blocking and tackling in football.  This simple yet critical failure is the first card in a house of cards - imploding.  This will give liberal historians the excuse to erase all of the good that Bush has done in regards to his foreign policy breakthrough of defending against terrorism by going on the offensive, including states that sponsor and support terrorism.  The House of Bush and it legacy will now be of a failed and unpopular war along with a blue-light special spending spree that will hang on the GOP like a large tacky zirconium necklace.

        Speaking of spending, when is the last time that Democrats have out raised Republicans in campaign contributions?  Well, the GOP better get used to being more effective at running campaigns because the money is going to dry up for this election cycle.  Conservatives will be pressed to vote for McCain let along give money to the perceived “Party Hacks” that are commented on so negatively on conservative message boards such as FreeRepublic.com.  The angst on the internet is a good barometer for what is going on at the grassroots level.  The tone is both dire and resentful between Party people and Conservative people.  Yet, both are wrong in their memory of the Reagan era and what works to bring conservative influence.

        Republicans have been the minority Party in terms of enrolled members even after Reagan and the Gingrich Revolution of 1994.  The Reagan and 94 Revolutions saw two very important and distinct coalition themes for success:

        1.  Center – Right Coalition of conservatives, center/right Independents and crossover Democrats.

        2.      Unified Conservatives with the comprehensive triad of conservatism represented by economic, social, and national security conservatives.

        Unified conservatives as well as the center – right coalition are both required

in order for Republicans to win elections and for Conservatives to use the mechanism of the GOP to influence politics.  One cannot happen without the other.  The forces of each will die without the other.  There is no other formula for success for each.  Conservatives can vote third party and protest, giving the White House to the Democrats, or the GOP can lurch leftward and also give the White House to the Democrats.  So message board commandos should look inward at themselves while they thrash about, and the elites of the Party who supported both liberal Giuliani and moderate and sometimes anti-GOP McCain, should look both inward at their failed triangulation strategy and outward for a conservative standard bearer that meets the conservative triad test.

            The Bush legacy is gone.  The Democrat Landslide is on.  These glacial realities have already been set by the failures described.  The Conservatives at least realize this and while finding a bottom for their despair and angst, have begun to look for a future strategy and candidate that is a comprehensive conservative.  The GOP on the other hand has no idea of the crashing boulders that are about to fall on its house.  Party elites are usually the last to know, blinded by their thirst to compromise and reach out to enemy ideologies that think compromise is a one way path to liberalism.  They will hold on to their feeble inept plans because they have been uncoiled and cannot be pulled back.

         So, they will hold on to hope.  But the packaged story of hope this November is in the name of Obama.  Yet the gift of Obama will be one of resignation to defeat in Iraq, increasing of taxes, even more spending and untold social heresies of dependence on government programs.  The cultured leftists in our public schoolrooms and universities will be emboldened as they never have since the 1960s.  The media will gloat on Election Day and begin anew the process of tearing down the goodness in America.  All creeds of faith will be scrutinized and mocked and the doctrine of secularism and anti-Americanism will reign supreme. 

But alas, the liberals and their allies will overreach, leaving the midterms as another test on their mandate.  Will the Conservatives and the Republican Party do the hard work that is essential by the next set of midterm elections?  That is a question only answered then, by the hard work that is done now.  The fundamentals of the ideology and coalitions are right there for the taking.  But do conservatives and the GOP believe in themselves?

                                                            The writer is a former paratrooper

                                                            and is currently a professional stock trader

                                                            high school football coach