The political pariahs who spent 4 years as bold contrarians will find they are now stuck in the wilderness.

The list of the hectoring cranks among journalists was always growing, but that was the only place where the Never-Trump camp showed any sign of progress. They were granted all manner of support in the press, of course, because the media loved nothing better than an avowed ‘’Republican’’ who came out in loud opposition to President Trump. As much as their message was catnip to the news outlets it has now been proven to have had no sway whatsoever in the electorate.

And the Democrats know this.

Looking at a Joe Biden occupancy does not mean that those True Conservatives who backed him were successful. Turning out Democrats to vote for Foggy Joe was not their mission statement, it was turning Republicans to vote for him and his fellow Democrats. The Bulwark has spent years explaining why Trump is a demon in the White House. The Lincoln Project ran opposition commercials for the past year.  Fellow opposition PAC Republicans Voting Against Trump claimed to be drawing in a swelling tide of voters who were switching sides in video testimonials. Former John Kasich operative Matt Borges teamed with Anthony Scaramucci to form RightSide PAC, which was intending ‘’identify former Trump supporters across the country who have cooled to the president’s approach in office and convince them to vote for Biden.’’

The results were dismal. For a troupe whose sole purpose was to sway Republicans over to the Democrats’ side and support Joe Biden they not only failed, they were rebuked. In 2016 Republican voters backed Trump at a 90% clip. After all of the screeching from this NT contingent Donald Trump received more votes than in 2016, and his support in the GOP…uh, ‘’fell’’ to 93%. The GOP held the Senate, they actually made gains in the House, they hold a majority of the governorships, and since the NT movement rose up there has been record amounts of minority support.

That is a resounding failure in your assigned task. The Lincoln Project drew nobody across the aisle. Any minds changed by RVAT were completely eclipsed by the flood of new Trump voters. The RightSide PAC, which was formed just this past June, was shuttered before the election. The Bulwark is yammering its predictable hatred of Trump hoping to earn praise from the cool kids on the left.

The past four years saw these cranks and contrarians claiming they were the true voices of conservative thought — and then promptly they went about supporting anyone who was not in any way conservative. More than just backing Biden they outright supported the leftist agenda. Max Boot pleaded with everyone to vote strictly Democrats in the 2018 midterms. Bill Kristol raved about Ralph Northam – after his support of infanticide. When the Virginia legislature slid to the Democrats Kristol did cartwheels in celebration.

Going beyond these supposedly strategic plays, the likes of the Lincoln Project took things further. They pledged to start running campaigns to oppose targeted Republican candidates and back the Democrat challengers. When Amy Coney Barrett was announced as a SCOTUS nominee she, and Trump, were scolded over the move. These are all curious positions to hold while at the same time claiming to be the final arbiters of what true conservatism is all about. When you oppose a nominee like ACB only because of who nominated her, conservatism is not your primary focus. Petulant vengeance is all that motivates you.

Already the backtracking is taking place. Former head of the GOP and current Lincoln Project board member Michael Steele has come out and declared that they now have an agenda for the Republican party. Yes, seriously.

The Lincoln Project announces their NEW agenda.

Senior advisor, Michael Steele, announces their plans to “resurrect the Republican Party in a way that it could become a governing majority in the future.”

“Those principles and those ideals we espouse…to me, still matter.”#TLP pic.twitter.com/33m6Cz0CRB

— Angelux (@Angelux1111) November 4, 2020

He said he wants to fix the Republican party with efforts that will ”resolve internally’’. This is more than laughable. These people have not only declared they wanted nothing to do with the GOP for 4 years, they have worked against the very conservative principles with which they tried to cloak themselves to justify their hatred. They opposed conservative elements of the Trump administration, mocked anyone who backed GOP candidates, and they supported wildly leftist candidates and policies from the Democrat party.

The most telling detail is that in the 4 years of bickering they never once promoted their own conservative options. Who were the names they offered up as an alternative, the candidates they backed who would deliver a sound conservative message to their liking? There were none to be found. Now Steele and company realize they are adrift. The Democrats see their failure, the GOP wants nothing to do with those who worked against them, and the voters have no interest in being lectured on conservative values from those who promoted abortion, higher taxes, and rampant statist policies.

The Never-Trump crowd will be relegated to huddling behind the gym and trading clove cigarettes with each other while they sneer at the groups who no longer want them in their ranks. They will tell each other how the parties have no idea what they are missing by not inviting them in; the problem is they are fully aware of the fact that both parties now know exactly what they are not inviting in.