Of course the electoral rewards for wonkery will always be limited, but the example of Paul Ryan — who’s become one of the highest-profile Republican politicians in Washington largely on the strength of his famous fiscal “roadmap” — suggests that there are real political benefits to be reaped from a sustained engagement with policy ideas. (Jack Kemp’s ascent in the 1970s and ’80s provides a similar case study.) This holds true whether you’re a bankbencher in the House hoping to make a name for yourself, a Senator with ambitions beyond climbing the committee ladder, or a would-be presidential candidate looking to boost your seriousness quotient (ahem, Mike Huckabee) or create a rationale for running (hello, Tim Pawlenty). Yet with some exceptions (Ryan in the House, of course, and to some extent figures like Tom Coburn and Bob Corker in the Senate) most Republican seem content to follow their leadership on policy, rather than trying to push their leaders in one direction or another by floating agendas of their own.

Where might an agenda-seeking Republican start? Well, Ramesh Ponnuru has a ten-point agenda for the G.O.P. that seems at once substantial, sensible and politically sale-able. From his lips to somebody’s ears …