This reform could allow a student to completely customize her transcript – and “college” experience – while allowing federal aid to follow her through all of these different options.

Students could mix and match courses, programs, tests, on-line and on-campus credits a la carte, pursuing their degree or certification at their own pace... while bringing down costs to themselves, their families, and the taxpayers.

This is what conservative reform should be trying to create: an open, affordable, innovative higher education system to better serve and secure all Americans in a global information economy.

Taken together, some more take-home pay, more time with the kids, a shorter commute, and more access to college won’t necessarily revolutionize our society, or cause the oceans to recede, or make everyone rich.

What they – and other conservative reforms – could and should do is make our economy a little stronger, our society a little fairer, and life a little better for America’s moms, and dads, and children.

And that’s a mandate for leadership in any generation.

There is obviously much more to be done. But the point I’ve tried to make – and the lesson I hope we take – is that the Republican Party, at its best, is a Party of Ideas.

It is ideas that unite and inspire conservatives. The leaders of Reagan’s generation understood that. And we must, too.

Especially in the wake of recent controversies, many conservatives are more frustrated with the establishment than ever before. And we have every reason to be.

But however justified, frustration is not a platform. Anger is not an agenda. And outrage, as a habit, is not even conservative. Outrage, resentment, and intolerance are gargoyles of the Left. For us, optimism is not just a message – it’s a principle. American conservatism, at its core, is about gratitude, and cooperation, and trust, and above all hope.

It is also about inclusion. Successful political movements are about identifying converts, not heretics. This, too, is part of the challenge before us.

In his 1977 CPAC speech effectively kicking off that era’s great conservative debate, Ronald Reagan said:

“If we truly believe in our principles, we should sit down and talk. Talk with anyone, anywhere, at any time if it means talking about the principles for the Republican Party. Conservatism is not a narrow ideology, nor is it the exclusive property of conservative activists.”