And of those last 40 years, 28 have seen Republican Administrations attempting to revert the USA of the 20th Century to the Gilded Age. If their attempts have indeed failed so much, we must conclude that 1) Republicans are stupid and useless, and cannot make anything of controlling the Presidency whatsoever, or 2) that the Democrats are the only serious political party in the USA. Either conclusion is bad for the viability of conservatism as an ideology. :)