Conservatives feel understandably discouraged by the dismal results of November’s elections, but we ought to put our recent presidential losing streak in perspective.

It’s true that Republicans lost the popular vote in five of the last six contests for the White House, but in the previous six elections – 1968 through 1988 –they won five out of six. What’s more, in the six recent elections where Republican presidential nominees fared badly, the GOP won the House of Representatives most of the time – capturing four out of six contests. But during the earlier Republican White House winning streak, the GOP didn’t win the House even once—going 0-for-six in that Congressional battle.

What this means is that for 50 years, the American people didn’t choose liberalism, or conservatism. For better or worse, they’ve been selecting divided government.