2008 isn't that distant. At the time, Republicans were down in the dumps, tied to Bush's low-approval ratings and toxic policies. The political landscape changed; environmentalists rejoiced with more politcally amendable opportunties. But after November 2nd, some of that will be lost. For a while, at least.

It's happened before. In 1964, President Lyndon Johnson crushed Barry Goldwater, winning more than 61 percent of the popular vote. The Republican Senator from Arizona only carried his native state and five southern states because of his position that federal civil rights were violating states rights. Critics thought his defeat marked the end of ideology and conservatism was dead.  They were completely wrong - in fact, it was only the beginning. His extreme ideologies were given to a mass audience in a more palatable way. The calculated "soft sell" a week before the election on October 27th by a B-list actor named Ronald Reagan in a national telecast to benefit Goldwater called "A Time For Choosing."



It's hard to watch today because the rhetoric and slick performance are ingrained in our political psyche. Reagan honed this style of address for years as a motivational speaker to General Electric employees. But watch closely and this is the birth of the conservative revolution that lives today, taking on big government and a force to be reckoned with in American politics. 

"If we loose freedom here, there is no place to escape to. This is the last stand on Earth," Reagan says. He wants us to return to the "freedoms that were intended for us by the Founding Fathers." If not, we're going to "abandon the American revolution and confess that a little intellectual elite in a far-distant capital can plan our lives for us better than we can plan them ourselves."

Even though Goldwater lost, the speech was a sensation and raised millions for the GOP. It's like a blueprint of talking points for our paranoid political climate at it's purist - appealing to fears and warning of despair. It's bleak, meaner than the "Morning In America" brand of Reagan we recall. The President who indeed did raise taxes, increased the federal deficit and expanded government.

That is important to remember because the Republican Party has repositioned itself to this imaginary small-government ideology. Now their work begins. It won't be easy - there's not much time to make good on promises for a new "fired up and ready to go" base. Things might cool off when the political realties kick-in and the next populist storm hits from the outrage.

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