EXCERPT
After the 2012 election, conventional wisdom said the GOP had to become more centrist to survive, but that didn't acknowledge the power of conservative lobbyists and think tanks.
Julian E. Zelizer is the Malcolm Stevenson Forbes, Class of 1941 Professor of History and Public Affairs at Princeton University and a CNN Political Analyst. He is the author and editor of 18 books on American political history, has written hundreds of op-eds, and appears regularly on television as a news commentator.