From a leading voice among young conservatives, an impassioned argument that to remain relevant the Republican Party must look beyond short-term electoral gains and re-commit to historic conservative values.

In 1963 Richard Hofstadter published his landmark book Anti-Intellectualism in American Life. Today, Matt Lewis argues, America’s inclination toward simplicity and stupidity can be stronger than ever, and its greatest victim may be the Republican Party. Lewis, a well known conventional columnist and regular visitor on MSNBC’s Morning Joe, eviscerates the trend of candidates having a ‘no experience required’ mentality and tea party ‘patriots’ who possess bluster but few core beliefs.

Lewis traces the conservative movement’s root base, from Edmund Burke to William F. Buckley, and from Goldwater’s reduction to Reagan’s landslide success. He features visionary thinkers who known nuance and deep ideology and transformed the course of the nation. Once we strategy the 2016 presidential election, Lewis has an urgent message for fellow conservatives: accept wisdom, humility, skills, and inclusion–or encounter extinction.