I think the error with this essay is a lack of historical context. And that can be uncomfortable viewing, but the end result is hopeful.
To start with, conservatives today are not like Goldwater conservatives, because the world is a very different place today than it was then. Nobody but radical leftists (well, maybe Putin) is upset that the Soviet Union collapsed.
The radical leftists in the US back then were *so* far left that they supported Soviet gulags, and wanted a US even more brutal, like Red Khmer Cambodia. They were hardcore fanatics like Angela Davis. The worst that can be said of today’s leftists, with a few exceptions, is that they are more like Mensheviks. Weakling socialists with profoundly naive and stupid ideas.
The Democrats have become little more than the part of sin, from the seven deadly sins to petty nuisance sin. That is their campaign platform, with no deep thought behind it.
Conversely, Republicans are now divided into the various flavors of conservatism, which overlap considerably, and the Whig-style Republicans, the current leadership, who have power but no will or spine.
With continued erosion, there really is no future for the Whigs. One way or another, they and their cronies have no future in the Republican party, because though they have deep pockets, their only platform is to stop conservatives from ascending to power, just to protect their cronies.
If Jeb Bush is elected, the truth is that he will carry the day with fewer than 10,000 wealthy contributors. Literally nobody other than they wants what he wants. There is no joy or hope in that. “Jeb will fill a much needed gap” is hardly a winning campaign slogan.
Yet the time of the Whigs is running out. With each election, at all levels, their numbers are decreasing. This last election, the Empire struck back, but it is losing the war. And the fewer there are, the more concentrated the efforts of conservatives are against them.
You haven't taken the time to read their blogs, their articles, and their lecture notes, like I have.
Leftists always telegraph their punches. They tell you what they're planning on doing, knowing that you are too weak to stop them.
And what they've been telling you since the 60's is, they want you dead.