Does a good leader simply tell the people what he thinks they want to hear? Or does he try to explain to them why other ideas are sometimes better? The Republican Revolution of 1994 wasn’t accomplished by people sitting around wringing their hands over how their “extreme” policy agenda might not play well across the nation.
Before you can be a good leader, you first have to get elected to office. That means a candidate must understand how to incorporate and balance his public policy agenda with the politics of an election campaign.
In addition, the Contract With America was a mainstream reform agenda. It didn't call for a complete overhaul of the US tax system.