2004, 2000: not "overwhelming wins"

1988: overwhelming, but are you claiming G. H. W Bush as rock-solid on conservative principles?

1984 & 1980: OK, point taken

1972: Not sure how you'd code this. Overwhelming win of course. But on domestic policy, Nixon was anything but a Goldwaterite and that was perfectly clear by '72. His realpolitik wouldn't sit well with today's GOP, though I'll certainly grant that he clearly passed a basic "strong on defense" test.

1968: Only sort of overwhelming, and Nixon ran a highly ambiguous campaign that avoided taking many clear principled stands.

1964: Rock-solid conservative principles, check. Overwhelming, check. Win, er, not so much.

1952 & 1956: Big wins, but surely you're not claiming DDE as a rock-solid convservative? Ike was to the New Deal what Clinton's "era of big government is over" was to Reaganism.

One could just as easily argue in 1984 that Walter Mondale would be a great candidate since he's an unabashed New Deal liberal just like FDR and LBJ, and it was with unapologetic New Dealers that the Dems won big victories.

Sure, it worked great in 1984 and 1994. Failed miserably in 1964. And given current national attitudes and policy preferences, looking dubious for 2012, though certainly events between now and then will matter a lot.