If the first three years of the Trump presidency has taught conservatives anything, it's that the Republican majority in the Senate is, in many cases, a majority-in-name-only. 

While the Senate has confirmed a significant number of the Judiciary Committee's vetted conservative judges, which is critically important and shouldn't be understated, the GOP-controlled Senate has also struggled to produce any legislative achievements.  It hasn't been able to move any immigration legislation and couldn't even agree to an Obamacare repeal measure despite campaigning against the health care measure for a full decade.

The conservative grassroots is angry, and rightfully so.  People want to see Washington work for the people, not the other way around.  That's why it's so important for conservative leaders across to get on the same page and embrace the same new year's resolution: transforming the GOP majority into a MAGA majority come November.  These leaders need to pressure vulnerable faux conservatives up for re-election into lifting their holds on the conservative movement's plans.

Perhaps nowhere is this noble goal become more important than in North Carolina, where the base of the GOP has turned against Republican senator Thom Tillis for his lack of support for the issues they care about. 

By many accounts, Sen. Tillis is the top Republican in name only up for re-election.  Coincidentally, his seat is also one of the most vulnerable in all of Washington. 

At this point, Tillis has yet to receive much of a competitor.  Recently, Republican representative Mark Walker announced that he would not run for Senate in 2020 — a decision that self-funded businessman Garland Tucker made just weeks earlier.  Despite the good luck, though, Sen. Tillis thankfully remains extremely vulnerable in the primary.  According to a Q3 2019 poll from the Morning Consult, the first-term senator maintains an abysmal 33-percent approval rating.  Worse, Tillis isn't even well liked by his own party.  Thirty percent view him unfavorably, 52 percent are considering voting for a candidate other than Tillis if the opportunity arises, and 18 percent have already committed to doing so.

Without a doubt, Tillis's Republican base has turned against him, and it's easy to see why.  The senator regularly picks fights with the GOP over the very issues so many North Carolinians care about.  Tillis opposed President Trump's border security efforts, proclaiming, "I hate the idea" of the president declaring an emergency on the border.  He was one of the leading voices in the creation of the DREAM Act, a bill that would have offered amnesty to some 800,000 illegal aliens currently living within the United States.  

Tillis has also spearheaded numerous liberal tax-and-spend packages, including one particularly piece of wasteful, Elizabeth Warren–esque legislation called the Lumbee Recognition Act.  The Tillis-led effort would have the government officially recognize the Lumbees — an inauthentic tribe with no consistent culture or customs.  The plan would force taxpayers to relinquish close to $1 billion in taxpayer funds to the tribe, all so the senator could seemingly receive more campaign supporters to make up for his dwindling poll numbers. 

Are these positions reflective of conservative principles?  North Carolinian Republicans think not.  Tillis, for his part, seems to recognize which way the wind is blowing and has begun taking more hard-line conservative stances to bolster his Republican credentials.  The senator recently sided firmly with the Trump over his phone call with the Ukrainian president, arguing that Trump "deserves to be defended" ahead of the impeachment trial.  

Conservatives shouldn't take the bait.  While the pressure they have mounted on the senator has worked in the short term, it is all too common for lawmakers to clean up their act right before an election battle, only to go back to their disappointing antics of the past when the polls close.  And so, the grassroots needs to demand more reversals before even thinking about pressing any buttons with Tillis's name on them in the voting booths.  

If Tillis wants to win another term in the Senate, he needs to shore up his base by assuring his supporters that he isn't a Republican in name only.  To do this, he needs to continue righting his past wrongs — from immigration to spending and everything else in between.

Republicans have failed to reap the full fruits of three of the four years of one of the most conservative administrations in history because of disappointing Senate Republicans.  Sen. Tillis has always been at the top of the list of disappointments, which is why his primary should represent an inflection point for the GOP.

As the clock continues to tick on Republicans' control of Washington, will the grassroots take strong enough action to ensure that this vulnerable member embraces their issue priorities, or will the people complain while tolerating the do-nothing status quo?

The ball is in their court.  One thing's for sure: their decision on how to address this race — one of the ones seemingly most pliable to grassroots activism in the country — will provide a solid indication of what shape conservativism will take in the U.S. Senate for the years to come.

Steve Gruber is a conservative talk show host.