By Rick Pearcey  December 8, 2012, 02:01 PM

Tom Tancredo has a message for the Republican Party , having just "snatched defeat from the jaws of victory":

History teaches is that if a party learns the right lessons, an electoral defeat can be a springboard for greater victories in the future. On the other hand, if it abandons its base and starts aping the opposition, it can be a short joy ride into oblivion.

But the challenge the GOP faces, says Tancredo, is deeper than that of abandoning its base. For the "current rules are rigged not only against conservatives inside the GOP but against the Constitution itself. The nation faces not only a fiscal cliff, but a constitutional one as well."

Thus, "is it any wonder that Sen. Jim DeMint has decided to jump ship and move to The Heritage Foundation ?" Tancredo observes.

"If the Republican Party leadership cannot win a public debate with Obama on economic growth and job creation," Trancredo continues, "pray tell what debate can they win? . . . Perhaps DeMint can use his new position as president of The Heritage Foundation to develop a new strategy for reversing our nation’s slide into socialism and dictatorship ."

Tancredo says he does not have an "answer for the question that is on the minds of conservatives and patriots everywhere, the question 'what next?' But one thing is now clear. If the answer comes from conservatives in the Republican Party, it will be shouted down."