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I see the health-care debate acting as the tipping point for the beginning of a sincere resurgence of the Conservative movement in this country, I submit that at the heart of it is a Conservative strategy that has proven successful in the past, the strategy of focusing on the fear of Socialism. Not just smaller government, which is a reasonable and respectable Conservative value, This is about anti-Socialism. And we have seen Anti-Socialism in this country and we have seen its effects. And, in one case, we have seen those Anti-Socialist leaders become President.

Richard Nixon knew that Fear of Communism and Fear of Socialism were soft spots in the American belly. And he knew that in order to win, that soft spot was an opportunity, and Nixon was the consummate opportunist.

(Specifically, I am speaking of Richard Nixon's strategy in the 1950 U.S. Senate election, where, during his winning campaign, Nixon painted his opponent (Helen Douglas) as Left-Wing, as "...pink, right down to her underwear.")

That is what is happening now, and it is working. If the Republicans find a way to successfully both prune and cultivate their leadership, we will see them not only win big at the mid-terms, but win back the executive branch in 2010. If you view the history of McCarthyism, we are experiencing similar environments. Both the post WWII generation and the Still-In-Iraq/Still-In-Afghanistan generation are weary of war, wary of non-Americans, and looking to the future with eyes wide open. In the 50s, it was with joyful anticipation, with us, it's with a deeply fearful uncertainty.

Now, it's possible that, at the same time, the administration will get their stuff together *and* the Republican leadership will become too contentious and will fail to coalesce. But if not, my money says that we will soon see the cheshire smile of Richard Nixon's ghost.