This is problematic because, as a congressional aide I spoke with recently bemoaned,

"(N)one of the ideas we propose make...(conservatives) happy. If we invoke Reagan people say - RECYCLED IDEAS. If we move away from Reagan -- they say "where is Reagan?" It's like a no win situation."

There's a simple solution to this dilemma that is decimating the Republican Party and dragging the conservative movement down with it: that is applying Reagan's principles to the issues that the American people care about.

Some of the issues we need to deal with today are the same as they were when Reagan was in office. For example, big government and uninhibited government spending are no more of a boon to the country today than they were during the eighties. However, other issues just weren't as important 20 years ago as they are today. For example, health care and gay marriage weren't bringing people to the polls like they do in today's political environment. Then there are the other issues, like the income tax rate, crime, and welfare that are still issues, but don't have the "oomph" that they did back then.

If we can't get conservative Republicans into office, we can't implement our ideas and unfortunately, running on the remaining salient issues from Reagan's time in office isn't going to cut it, nor is alienating conservatives by moving the GOP to the middle of the road.

Instead, what we have to do is apply Reagan's principles to today's problems so that the GOP can bring conservatives back on board while simultaneously showing middle-of-the-road Americans that we do have real solutions to the problems that they're concerned about.

So, are we willing to secure the border and crack down on employers that knowingly hire illegals, which will cause most of the illegals that are here to self-deport? Are we willing to fight to give individual Americans, instead of businesses, health care tax breaks so that we can cover more Americans, at the same cost, and unleash the power of the market in health care? Are we willing to cut foreign aid and remove bases from nations we needed for the Cold War, but that are useless in the war on terror?

Those issues, and others that the GOP needs to get back in power are out there, just waiting for the Party to get behind them. America is a still a center-right country and conservatives, unhappy though they may be at the moment, are ready to open their wallets, put up signs, vote, and do what they have to do for their country if they're given a reason to do so. Having a Republican Party that's guided not by eighties nostalgia or unprincipled poll-driven politics, but Reagan's principles, would give them that reason.