A warning from Hungary to the American conservative movement. I spent five years as Political Director to Prime Minister Viktor Orbán. I learned what it takes to build a successful conservative movement. Today I am learning another lesson: what happens when conservatives lose power. When conservatives govern, they must never allow power and institutions to distance them from the people who elected them. Our strength comes from ordinary people believing that we are on their side: fighting for their families, jobs, security, communities and country. And this is the warning from Hungary: if conservatives lose power, do not assume you will simply spend four years in opposition. Your opponents may use their victory to make sure you never come back. What we are witnessing in Hungary is the construction of an authoritarian liberal system through a political and economic purge. The new government is not simply reversing conservative policies. It is dismantling the political, intellectual, media and economic infrastructure that made conservative government possible. They are going after donors, business leaders, media personalities and intellectuals who supported or worked with the conservative government. The logic is simple: treat everyone who helped the conservative side as if they must be guilty of something, then turn the machinery of the state on them to find something that can be used against them. Authorities become instruments to intimidate and punish the people and networks that could help conservatives return. The economic purge follows the same logic. Nationalizations, threats to private property and political intervention send a clear message: if you supported the wrong side, your business, property and livelihood may no longer be safe. The goal is to make supporting conservatives personally and economically dangerous. And all this follows an election campaign in which almost everything was promised to everyone. But promises eventually collide with reality. Prices, wages, investment, energy and living standards cannot be fixed by communication. When the promised better life fails to arrive, a government has two choices: offer something better, or make sure there is no credible alternative. That is the lesson from Hungary. Stay on the side of the people while you govern and never take their trust for granted. And if you lose, reorganize immediately, stand by your people and find your way back to the voters as quickly as possible. Because an authoritarian liberal system does not merely want conservatives to lose an election. It wants to make sure that, when people realize they were promised one thing and given another, they have no real alternative left to choose. And if this happens, ordinary citizens and ultimately the country itself pay a very high price.