I think it's worth remembering that conservatism and especially the Republican party was doomed following the Nixon debacle. Jimmy Carter swept into office on a pretty large mandate, and he was regarded as an "outsider" by many. (Gerald Ford's pardoning of Nixon was seen as a classic "swamp" move.) Yet by year four, Carter had pooped the national bed so thoroughly (tragically costing thousands of lives, livelihoods and millions of dollars in the process, of course) that we got Ronald Reagan.

Today's scenario is different, but really only the names have changed. Now there's the Uniparty and the Patriots. I think we need to focus on the local level at first and proceed up the chain.