When I was a kid I loved watching those cheesy horror movies like Friday the 13th or Halloween. My friends and I would sit around and invent ludicrous story lines for the mother of all horror films. Well, I have an idea for a film that could roll out in the fall of 2006. Here’s the plot – Imagine a Congress that: (1) seriously considers impeaching the president; (2) launches countless investigations into the “bungled” war on terror; (3) votes against any judicial nominee who believes in originalism; (4) raises the estate tax; (5) raises the capital gains tax; (6) raises income taxes on everyone making over $200K/year; and (7) raises the minimum wage.

Sound scary? Well, all or some of the above could happen, unless Republicans do a much better job of reaching out to the voters who have given them majority power for years. More Americans today feel like their government has become more preoccupied with how Mexican workers are doing than how American workers are doing. They resent being made to feel that they lack compassion simply because they think American citizenship and American laws should mean something. They are glad taxes were cut, but wonder why Republicans in power since 1994 have yet to simplify a tax code that is even thicker and more confusing than a decade ago. They can’t for the life of them understand why the stories of bravery and sacrifice of our American heroes in Iraq and Afghanistan aren’t known to more Americans. They might agree that we are “addicted to oil” but also are disgusted at Washington’s addiction to spending.

Bottom-line: A lot of you are just sick and tired of politicians who forget who sent them to Washington and why.

For almost a year, the White House has dismissed the president’s sliding approval numbers – “these things go in cycles” is the familiar response. Yes, the media pollsters at CBS-NBC-ABC-New York Times-Washington Post all tilt left, but the same cannot be said of Fox News. Its polls have put the president in the mid-30s. And although Congress doesn’t rate well either among the voters, more Americans seem willing to give the Dems a chance in November-with an ABR attitude. (Anybody but Republicans.) As the president is currently discovering, it’s really hard to get anything done in with numbers that low. Democrats feel emboldened and their attacks get sharper, and Republicans look for ways to show their “independence” from the White House.

So much for dismissing the polls.

If things go south for the GOP in November, expect to hear cries from the business community, and perhaps from McCain and Giuliani supporters, that it’s all the fault of the social conservatives. Libertarians at the Cato Institute and writers like Andrew Sullivan will crow that the loss is a clear national repudiation of conservatism. Of course that is utter nonsense. Social conservatives have hardly been super-served by this administration. Yes, the president did a great job on Supreme Court picks, but that was only after a needless and time-consuming fight over Harriet Miers. Yes, he stood against federal funding for expanded embryonic stem cell research, but we haven’t heard much about that lately.

Those who consider themselves to be small-government libertarian types whine and complain about the social conservatives. But where would they be without our votes? Do they really think Bush carried Kentucky because those folks are worried about the capital gains tax? Do they really think Bush carried Kansas because those voters want open borders? Do they really think the Bush voters in West Virginia are excited about free trade with China?

Of course the rap on conservatives is that they are always grumpy about something. But the difference now is their ire is directed at the GOP more than the Democrats, or the UN, or some Hollywood loon. After all, it’s the GOP that is refusing to enforce the immigration laws. It’s the GOP that is busy clogging up appropriations bills with earmarks. And so, for the first time in many years, a lot of conservatives are finding themselves to be at odds with the GOP.

The choice for the GOP is clear: They can either start giving their voters what they want, or those voters are going to look elsewhere. That doesn’t mean they’ll vote for the Democrats. They may stay home. They may vote for a third-party candidate. (remember how Perot came out of nowhere in 1992?) But they will leave the GOP in numbers that will turn this country over to the Democrats. Acting as though social conservatives have no choice but to vote Republican – which is pretty much a description of the inside-the-Beltway GOP – is a recipe for disaster not only this fall, but for years to come.

Ms. Ingraham is a nationally syndicated radio host with Talk Radio Network and author of “Shut Up & Sing: How Elites From Hollywood, Politics and the U.N. Are Subverting America.”