Again, I wasn't being clear...

I'm not calling for a moderate to run, or for a candidate to promise watered-down conservative values as his or her platform... instead, I was saying we need a conservative candidate with solid, measurable values that will appeal to the moderate voter, as Reagan did in 1980, and as Newt and Co. did in 1994.

Yes, I think Reagan could have defeated Obama were he to come back and run in 2012 (forgetting that his two-term limit is up, of course)... but my point is more along the lines of "Could Dole have beaten Obama?" or "Could Perot have beaten Obama?"

In those two examples, we see extremes of exactly what I was talking about... one was almost without personal appeal and the other was so far out of touch with the moderate voter that he seemed almost comical to the average American. Both were solid, dedicated conservatives of very similar molds as Reagan... but neither had the capacity to reach out to moderate, independent voters the way Reagan did.

I do not argue that the failing may have been in "how" they were selling, rather than what... as I think Ryan detailed... but the result was the same, either way... they lost. I simply do not know if we can afford another term of Obama the way we could with Clinton.

Limbaugh, Beck and Hannity...

Most of America may hold traditional, Judeo-Christian values and ideals that are best encapsulated in the GOP platform right now... I agree with that 100%. I was saying that the views of Beck, Hannity and Limbaugh (and the plethora of other pundits) are not equal to nor completely follow the views of the majority of voting Americans. Were that the case, then Obama would never have won in the first place, right?

Where Obama has "failed" utterly was in his plans and policies that so plainly and measurably showed that the "hope and change" Obama was supposed to bring is tantamount to socialism, and that he really DID have every intention of "fundamentally reshaping America", and that this quote wasn't simply election-cycle hyperbole. The scope of what he has tried to do (and what he has accomplished to date) has staggered even the most liberal-leaning moderate... while at the same time, he has failed to deliver on so many of his other promises (Gitmo, Iraq, Afghanistan, Iran, etc). He has allied himself with the most controversial and questionable people he could find, and has never said WHY. He has thrown in his hat with people like Pelosi and Reid, and their policies... only to watch their "voter support" evaporate into the most unpopular Congress in the last 98 years.

Even the "30-second sound byte" American doesn't WANT someone to tell them whom they should or shouldn't vote for... they want to make the decision themselves (even if they don't vote come November, which most don't). Reagan's victory stemmed from his ability to APPEAL to people that normally wouldn't have given him a second thought... and THAT is what the GOP (and America as a whole) needs today.