They never LOST it. The HEART of America has always been conservative.
This guy is another example of an ivory-tower poser who knows nothing of the real world he supposedly describes. If he seriously believes that "populist conservatism" got its start with Wallace's candidacy in 1968, he needs to step away from the crack pipe until his head clears.
The question, on the other hand, that is not asked is what we are to make of wealthy liberals who vote against their economic self-interest by voting Democratic. Of course, we don't really need to ask that question, do we? The Steven Spielbergs and George Soroses and John Kerrys of the world vote leftist because they're smart or insighful or because they care about the country as a whole, beyond their own narrow interests. The notion that the little guy could be smart or insightful or care wbout things beyone his own narrow self-interest is never entertained - no, the little guy votes against his own interests because he's a retarded monkey who's been duped by others. This is why the left is doomed to wander in the desert for a while longer, I think. Any political strategy that starts out with the basic premise that the average Kansas voter is an idiot is facing serious problems right from the start.