First, the winner will “demonstrate that he can unify all those elements — social conservatives, populists, fiscal conservatives” and also reach beyond the base as Ronald Reagan did with the Reagan Democrats. He explained of the need to reach beyond the base, “That is why language is important and clarity is important.” However, he cautioned that it’s wrong to pigeonhole distinct groups: “These groups share a common agenda,” he noted. The presence of so many social conservatives in the Tea Party movement, he observed, “is a sign of enormous maturity and confidence” of a group of voters who, without sacrificing their own core beliefs, see the prominence of fiscal issues.

Second, Rove explained that candidates “need to create a narrative to explain ‘Why not Obama?’ and why them. They are going to have a problem if they don’t realize the second is harder and requires more time.” After all, as he pointed out, any conservative can critique Obama.