Outgoing President Bush is likely preparing Three Envelopes for his successor, President-elect Barack Obama.  The task for conservatives will be to ensure that Obama opens and reads them during the next four years.

The Three Envelopes is an old joke from the business world.  It goes something like this:

A new manager comes on the job.  His first day in the office, he opens his desk drawer and finds a note from his predecessor and three envelopes (numbered 1, 2, and 3).  The note reads, "When you run into your first crisis, open envelope # 1.  When you run into your second crisis, open envelope # 2.  When you run into your third crisis, open envelope # 3." 

Forgetting about the envelopes, the new manager soon runs into his first crisis.  He is panicked and unsure what to do.  By chance, he opens his desk drawer and finds the three envelopes.  He frantically opens envelope # 1 and finds a note reading, "Blame your predecessor."  He blames his predecessor for the crisis, and is let off the hook.

It isn't long before the new manager runs into his second crisis.  This time, he remembers the envelopes and hurries to his desk drawer to open envelope #2.  He opens it, and finds a note reading, "Blame the system."  He blames the system and is let off the hook.

Not long afterward, the new manager runs into his third crisis.  Having escaped the first two crises, he confidently proceeds to his desk to open envelope # 3.  He opens it, and finds a note reading, "Get three envelopes."

Conservatives must battle to ensure that Obama opens envelope # 3.  Obama is inheriting a financial and economic crisis, and will likely face international crises before long.

Democrats have already opened envelope # 1 ("Blame your predecessor").  House Democrats are claiming that Bush "tricked them" into passing bailout packages that squandered hundreds of billions of dollars, with no accountability and little results.  Conservatives must campaign from day one to lay blame Democrats and Obama for misguided bailouts that they supported.

Democrats and Obama have even opened envelope # 2 ("Blame the system").  They wrongly blame the current financial crisis on a faulty market system ("market failure") and "too much deregulation" ("regulatory failure").  Republicans must defend core conservative principles like free markets and limited government.

The bottom line is that forcing Obama to open envelope # 3 ("Get three envelopes") must be the highest priority for conservatives.  This will be an uphill fight.  Obama has a cult-like following, managed by cynical Hollywood handlers, and propped up by mainstream media groupies.

But conservatives face an even greater challenge - the Republican Party.  Unlike the conservative movement, the Republican Party is ideologically rootless.  Party leaders have supported bipartisan government expansion, bipartisan amnesty programs, and bipartisan bailouts.  Bipartisanship that caves into and supports the Democrat socialist agenda will only weaken and undermine the Republican party, the nation, and our children's future.

The heavy lifting is our job. We cannot stand by and offer silent support for another New Deal.  The legacy of the New Deal was the rise of the modern regulatory state and rule by judicial fiat at the expense of our Constitutional text.  Our money and our votes must go only to those who support limited government.  Republicans who support another New Deal must be replaced without exception. Otherwise, we can expect a two-term Obama presidency and a dimmer future.