Posted on 03/02/2007 4:16:56 AM PST by Jim Robinson
To have a successful future, it helps to understand the past.
First, let’s understand that conservatives and conservatism did not lose last November.
The election loss was a direct result of the Republican Party and its leadership in the White House and Congress moving left.
The Republicans became that which they beheld.
In the late 1980’s and early 1990’s, they beheld the corruption and abuse of power by the Democrats. But a few years after the voters threw the Democrats out of office, the Republicans became that which they beheld-the Republicans became corrupt and abused their power.
When most of the Congressional Republicans first ran for office, they ran against the sewer that Washington had become. But after a few years in Washington most of them act like they’ve discovered that Washington isn’t a sewer after all – it’s a hot tub.
In other words, the Republicans’ real message was: “We didn’t want the Democrats spending the money, but now that we are totally in charge, let’s blow the door off the bank vault, and let’s spend and spend and spend our children and grandchildren’s inheritance.”
ALL FOR THE SOLE IMMORAL, CORRUPT PURPOSE OF HOLDING ONTO POWER.
And how appropriate that it turned into ashes in their mouth.
In January 2001, for all intents and purposes, the Republicans in the White House and Congress adopted a one-word strategy to govern.
And that one word was BRIBERY.
In essence they said to the voters ‘you’ve got votes-we’ve got money-let’s talk - let’s deal.’
The illegal corruption of Duke Cunningham, Bob Ney, Jack Abramoff, and Mark Foley is not a serious problem for us, our children, or grandchildren’s lives.
They’ve been caught and punished.
But far worse crimes have been committed by the politicians who are still sitting in their Capitol Hill offices. I’m talking about the legalized theft of trillions of dollars these politicians have stolen from the children of tomorrow – in order to buy votes to stay in office today.
Therefore conservatives, our #1 need going forward is for new leaders.
Conservatives are like the Biblical Jews who had to wander through the desert for 40 years until that generation of immoral corrupt leaders had passed away.
As conservatives, we’re not going to get to the political Promised Land until we also get new, uncorrupt, principled leaders.
Dr. Phil, the TV psychiatrist, likes to say: “How’s that working for you?”
And I say: How’s that working for you conservatives – to be an appendage of the Republican Party?
The voters spoke in November, and what was the first thing the Republicans did? They kept in power all the leaders who had led them over the cliff!
Obviously the initials GOP now stands for Go On Partying. Or Give up (G) on (O) principles (P).
Well, the Republican party apparently has a death wish, but that doesn’t mean we conservatives have to go along with it.
My strong recommendation is for conservatives to stop being an arm of the Republican Party and become a 3rd Force, but not a 3rd Party.
The left has had enormous success by building strong 3rd force groups and coalitions.
The left has hundreds of environmental groups, consumer groups, civil rights groups, feminist groups, and homosexual groups, etc., etc.
And these groups have their own agenda, their own members, their own money, and most importantly they operate independent of the Democratic Party
Conservatives must do the same.
No longer think of yourself as a Republican, but as a Reagan conservative.
Let’s re-launch the conservative movement.
Let’s act independently of the Republican Party and their failed big government leadership.
Let’s focus on the conservative movement, not the GOP.
We need to greatly increase the size and number of principled conservative organizations.
Let’s launch a thousand new organizations reaching out to:
1. Small business owners, especially women, Hispanics, and Asians.
2. America’s youth, who know the current Social Security system just won’t be there for them.
3. Independent voters, most of who support a balanced budget, family values, and fiscal restraint.
4. Values voters, who agree with us on same sex marriage and the culture of life and promoting traditional moral values – not Hollywood values.
5. Young married couples, who care about child tax credits and better schools.
6. Senior citizens, who want to stop the politicians’ raid on the Social Security Trust Fund – and don’t trust them to manage their health care, either.
7. Doctors, who are already being hamstrung by red tape – and are scared to death of the prospect of socialized medicine.
8. And all the Americans in the “sensible center” who know deep-down that conservatives really are “right:” We’re right on illegal immigration, right on taxes, right on health care, right on the economy, right on terrorism – and right for America.
Let’s withhold support from all Republican National Committees because they spend our money in primaries to defeat conservatives.
Let’s withhold support from most Republican elected officials, supporting only those few principled conservatives
Let’s challenge in primaries all establishment big government Republicans and Democrats at the National, state, and local levels.
Let’s run principled conservatives for local, state, and national party offices.
I congratulate CPAC for not having the Chairman of the Republican National Committee at CPAC for the first time in memory.
And conservatives—this is important – for the time being, we should withhold our support from all of the top tier 2008 Presidential wannabees.
Not a one of them deserves our support today.
They all fail the Goldwater/Reagan test.
Goldwater became our hero when he and he alone in Washington stood up and criticized the Republicans for their big government policies.
On the floor of the Senate in 1960, he said President Eisenhower was running a dime store New Deal.
He spoke truth to power. Where is the Republican Presidential candidate that has stood up publicly to the big government Republican leaders in the last 6 years?
And if they haven’t stood up for conservative principles in the last 6 years, they won’t start if they become President.
And Reagan regularly criticized Presidents Nixon and Ford.
And the second test is, tell me who you walk with and I’ll tell you who you are.
Reagan walked with conservatives- long before he ran for President in 1976; he was at our meetings, our receptions, and our rallies.
And surrounding Reagan were conservative stars Lyn Nofziger, Marty Anderson, Dick Allen, Ed Meese, Judge Clark, Joe Coors, and many others.
If conservatives have not been around a Republican Presidential candidate before he began asking for our votes, I guarantee you conservatives will not be around him if he moves into the White House.
And I promise you; you will not have conservative policies or conservative programs without conservative personnel.
I don’t know about you, but I’m angry and I feel betrayed, but fortunately there are things we conservatives can do to become a governing majority in America.
However, it’s not likely to happen quickly, certainly not by 2008.
One of the strengths of the conservative movement is we’ve always approached politics as a marathon, not a sprint.
It may take 6-10 years for conservatives to be able to govern America.
But 1st conservatives have to follow the advice that Kevin Costner got in the baseball movie “Field of Dreams.”
If you build it, they will come.
We have to build a whole new conservative movement, independent of the two major parties.
And once we build a large, dynamic powerful conservative movement, the next Ronald Reagan will appear.
Remember the movie, “The Blues Brothers” with Dan Aykroyd and John Belushi. The idea in the movie was We’re putting the band back together And we’re on a mission from God
Well conservatives, We’re putting the conservative movement back together. And hopefully we’re on a mission from God.
--30-- NOTE to EDITORS: Richard A. Viguerie pioneered ideological and political direct mail and has been called “the funding father of the conservative movement” for his role in helping build dozens of conservative organizations. He is the author of the newly released Conservatives Betrayed: How George W. Bush and Other Big Government Republicans Hijacked the Conservative Cause (Bonus Books, 2006).
OK, so you lied to me and everyone else here. I'm just here reiterating the facts.
How "socially conservative" of them.
And some of them call themselves Christian. Doesn't sound like any Christians I know.
Nor I, and I is one!
Gee, I wonder why Mel Martinez wasn't invited to speak at CPAC?
some here seeking to redefine conservatism?
Just Win, Baby! Don't sweat the details!
It's working so well in California. /s
Some are hell-bent at being bridesmaids again,, and could care less what the cost is to the rest of those who see the folly of a moderate and conservative partnership.
It's like a liberal and conservative one, you know who usually is asked to give in in the end, or is expected to.
The Gang of 14, The '17', The 7 Rinos for pulling out of Iraq,, these are real groups in the House and the Senate and not fictional characters, we see what the fruits of their of their efforts to toe a middle road have been.
No, I didn't, and no, you're not. You told an outrageous lie, one which you can't back up, sport.
Very well said. I have talked to some of the new people that don't understand the venom being displayed on here and name calling that keeps on and on.
I watched CPAC very carefully and Rudy was well received. Young people of this Nation like his optimism and his message. Many of college students today are big on fiscal and national security conservatism and don't believe that the social conservatives should be the voice of the Republican Party because they are put off by the in your face approach.
Know when I meet friends of my two kids at OU, they consider themselves conservative but social issues are not big with them. They believe like my kids that social issues in most instances belong in the home and community.
They are supporting Rudy as a leader and his standing on what he believes not on what someone wants to hear.
Indeed, and Jim has also stated many times that we're all conservatives here.
You haven't *proved* jack about any claim you've ever made here.
109 posted on 03/02/2007 10:43:00 AM CST by BigSkyFreeper
Did you post the above, or not, liar?
The actual facts, for anyone observing who gives a rip:
I posted ONCE on FR that I was leaving the GOP.
Why?
Because I was standing in front of the hospice in Pinellas Park, FL, watching Terri Schiavo's parents and brother and sister come out several times a day from having to see a pipsqueak local judge dehydrate their loved one to death, while the Republican Governor, Jeb Bush, and the rest of the Republican Party paid lip service but did NOTHING.
Because, in desperation to find ANYTHING that would help this poor defenseless young woman and her family, I let my emotions get the better of me for about five minutes.
So, BSf, shut up. Just because you and your harpie friends have reposted my post five hundred times on FR doesn't mean that I have "told many of us on FR time and time again that [I'm] no longer a member of the GOP."
Jerk.
You certainly haven't proven that you're an actual conservative. Your posts here, in fact, say otherwise. You have always maintained an "attitude" against conservatives here.
He has said that, and I've quite strongly disagreed with him. But, let's let him speak for himself, shall we?
"Indeed, and Jim has also stated many times that we're all conservatives here."
LOL! Yeah, I remember reading that. I'm confident that he believes one of two thngs, one, he's gonna do what he has to do to keep everyone around to keep this forum paid for. So he ain't gonna rock the boat to big. Although, I've seen him rock the boat here pretty big, so that may not be an issue with him.
Second, I think it is abundantly clear to Jim that there is indeed different breeds of conservatives on this board. I happen to be the one that Jim has defined clearly in his "statement of beliefs" if you will. If it makes you feel better to call liberals here, conservatives, then go at it, be happy! We simply aren't going to agree on this, simple as that.
That was almost two years ago, what changed your mind?
We can talk about that as soon as you admit you lied.
I always let Jim speak for himself.
I didn't lie. You said you were going to leave the GOP. I figured you stood by your principles and followed your heart and leave. I didn't think you would become a flip-flopper. I shouldn't have to apologize for that, even though I remember you said you were leaving the GOP almost 2 years ago.
"Conservatism is being defined by the liberal media once again."
Don't watch the liberal media, if a liberal tells you something they heard on the MSM,just laugh at them and tell them how to get the real facts.
Don't worry about me. I haven't watched the networks since 1989.
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