 Decline is always a choice, but that is not a choice that Republicans will be making anytime soon. Fifty years ago at a banquet hall a few blocks from where we're sitting, Ronald Reagan spoke at the very first meeting of the Conservative Political Action Conference. It was almost exactly 50 years ago. At the time, conservatism was considered by many to be an out-of-date and discredited philosophy, but Ronald Reagan didn't buy that. Instead, he reminded us all why America is exceptional.