This week, President Joe Biden announced his 2024 reelection bid. In many ways, he is a uniquely weak candidate. His presidency has been marked by crisis after crisis — from out-of-control inflation at home to unchecked aggression by Russia and China abroad. More than 70% of people say they don’t want Biden to run again, including 51% of Democrats, according to a recent poll .

Given Biden’s weakness, Republicans should be preparing to sweep aside the Democrats and seize power in Washington come 2024. But after their underperformance in the 2022 midterm elections, the GOP remains adrift. Relations between the wings of the party in Congress are rocky, and the 2024 primary is shaping up to be a nasty confrontation of personalities . The Republican Party is doing very little to inspire confidence that it can take advantage of the moment.

Rather than get caught up in all the mire, Republicans should look to the past for an example of popular conservatism: Winston Churchill. While holding firm to his principles and convictions, Churchill was able to revive British conservatism as a potent electoral force. He commanded immense public support and wielded that power to achieve incredible things. There is no better model for winning and governing than Churchill.

One reason Churchill enjoyed popularity was his willingness to express the mood of the people. Russell Kirk, one of the founding fathers of American conservatism, was studying in Scotland during the 1951 election that propelled Churchill back into the premiership. Reflecting on a campaign rally he attended, Kirk wrote :

At present, many Republicans are doing a poor job of seeming to be “common sense incarnate.” Instead of following the path forged by commonsense conservatives such as Gov. Glenn Youngkin (R-VA), Gov. Brian Kemp (R-GA), or Gov. Jim Pillen (R-NE), too many in the GOP are willing to countenance or even join in the antics of Reps. Marjorie Taylor Greene (R-GA) and Matt Gaetz (R-FL) or failed Arizona gubernatorial candidate Kari Lake. They flirt with political extremism and conspiracy theorism when they should be talking about practical matters. These positions alienate voters and lead to electoral embarrassments such as Blake Masters’s failed Senate candidacy in Arizona.

Another problem with the Greenes and Lakes of the GOP is they lack the vision and clarity necessary to inspire the public.

Churchill, on the other hand, was able not only to recognize the civilizational crisis before him but to convince others of it effectively as well. He believed wholeheartedly in the British way of life, and he saw that in the 20th century, it had come under siege. Abroad, totalitarian regimes in Germany and the Soviet Union posed a direct challenge to European security. At home, the creeping specter of socialism threatened to strangle the British economy and constitutional liberties. Churchill’s prophetic and consistent way of speaking about these threats endeared him to the people, who came to see him as the “father of the nation.”

Unfortunately, few Republicans seem willing to speak in the mode of Churchillian prophecy about the civilizational crisis the United States must address today. Some members of the party may fundraise off of Biden’s unfitness for office or the excesses of the “woke Left,” but only if it benefits their own ambitions within the short term.

This is especially true when it comes to foreign policy. Just last week, for example, the isolationist wing of the GOP sent a letter to Biden calling for an end to American support of the Ukrainian war effort. And before that, a likely presidential candidate dismissed the war as a mere “ territorial dispute .” Clearly, Republicans need to remind themselves of Churchill’s lessons about appeasement and aggression.

Ironically, these Republicans are playing into a partisan trap laid by the Biden administration. The public still largely supports our Ukrainian friends. One recent poll suggested that majorities believe Ukraine should enter NATO and that the defense of the country is “vital” to our national interests. By opposing both of these policies, even if only rhetorically, Republicans are allowing the Biden administration to portray them as an isolationist force, which will, in turn, repel many of the independent voters they need. Allowing Biden to claim the mantle of strong foreign policy would be a disaster.

As Republican leaders cast about for a coherent foreign policy, it is important to remember that Churchill took his political positions on the basis of principle, not because he was courting popularity. In the 1930s, the Tories sent Churchill into a political wilderness for his warnings about the Nazis. His popularity came first and foremost from his steadfastness and refusal to descend to cheap political tricks. Voters respect, admire, and will support integrity. Political leaders simply have to offer it to them.

Biden’s presidency has been, thus far, a historic disaster. His policies fly in the face of common sense, and people are suffering for it. Republicans could see a massive victory in 2024, but only if they have the courage to advance the kind of conservatism a statesman such as Churchill would support.

Michael Lucchese is the founder of Pipe Creek Consulting, a communications firm based in Washington, D.C. Previously, he was a communications aide to Sen. Ben Sasse. He graduated from Hillsdale College in 2018 and, in 2017, was a political studies fellow at the Hudson Institute.