They are willing to pay their fair share in taxes, but they are disgusted by how much waste they see in government. They are willing to give their neighbors a helping hand, but they don’t appreciate people ripping off the system.

This silent majority has a Burkean view of revolution. They like respectful dialogue and they don’t like the haters. They don’t feel comfortable with those folks who cheered Rick Perry when he coldly talked about all the people he put to death or when the people cheered at the thought of a 30-year-old dying because he didn’t have healthcare, or when the people booed a gay Iraq war veteran.

The silent majority of the Republican Party asserts itself in presidential elections and in real primaries with real voters. The silent majority doesn’t do straw polls or conventions or caucuses. They have jobs they have to get to.

These are the folks who nominated Ike over Robert Taft. They nominated Nixon in 1960 and again in 1968. They nominated Ford over Reagan, Reagan over Bush, Bush over Dole, Dole over Buchanan, Bush II over McCain and McCain over Romney.