In the short-term, conservatives can’t do much about Obama’s amnesty. But we shouldn’t give in to either rage or despair. Conservatives will have a chance to make major changes to immigration and health care policy. We don’t know when those chances will come. It could be two years. It could be six or ten. But it is going to happen.

They key is to be ready for those chances whose timing and form we cannot predict. That means having some kind of positive agenda that can command sufficient support to be enacted. For us regular, old conservatives, we can try to create a political market that encourages center-right politicians to offer something better than pro wrestling-type fake anger or establishment complacence.

A candidate who spends most of their time on health talking about how much they hate Obamacare, and want to repeal Obamacare, and how they will spend their first day signing executive orders repealing Obamacare, is wasting your time and playing you for a sucker. Being serious about getting rid Obamacare means having taken the time to understand and invest in explaining the replacement for Obamacare.

Same thing with immigration policy. A candidate that tries to get by with talk of “sealing the border” thinks you are too stupid to know how much of our illegal immigration problem is caused by overstaying of visas and the lack of internal employment enforcement. They are probably trying to avoid immigration that might be unpleasant to the Republican lobbyist classes. Don’t let them Gruber you.

Just something to think about as the 2016 presidential election cycle begins.