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MEMO TO CONSERVATIVES: THE FIGHT IS JUST BEGINNING
conservativehq.com ^
| Feb 25 2008
| Richard A. Viguerie
Posted on 02/25/2008 5:34:34 PM PST by ovrtaxt
Feb 25 2008 MEMO TO CONSERVATIVES: THE FIGHT IS JUST BEGINNING
by Richard A. Viguerie
The time has come for conservatives to move on, to shift priorities, and to work to elect conservatives at all levels now and in the years to come.
For too long, conservatives have done most of the work necessary to elect Republican candidates, but, once elected, most of those Republicans have ignored conservatives’ concerns or have opposed conservatives outright.
These Republicans have taunted us: “What are you going to do? Vote for the liberal Democrats? Calm down and grow up, and keep supporting us even while we trash you and people like you and much of what you believe in.”
However, there is a third course – neither blind loyalty to an arrogant, out-of-touch Republican Establishment nor acquiescence in the election of liberal Democrats. We can shift our priorities to electing principled conservatives, and let GOP anti-conservatives fend for themselves.
We can stop – stop! – providing any support to organizations and candidates that do not follow conservative principles. For example, no conservative should give a penny to the various Republican campaign committees at the national level. Let them rely on the country club Big Business wing of the party, whose interests they represent and whose candidates they give most of their support. (Don’t worry; they won’t starve.)
Conservatives’ resources are finite. We must stop supporting the Republican Establishment, and, instead, support the principled conservatives who need and deserve our help.
This is a long-term strategy, rooted in this reality: It is from the ranks of the lower public and party officials that most future conservative leaders will come – perhaps, someday, another conservative president in the philosophical image of Ronald Reagan.
Last week, a mainstream conservative, State Senator Andy Harris, unseated U.S. Representative Wayne Gilchrist of Maryland in the Republican primary. (Gilchrist was elected in 1992 as a mainstream candidate but had moved toward the radical left.) It wasn’t the first time Harris challenged an incumbent liberal Republican; that’s how he won his state Senate seat in the first place.
Across this country, there are outstanding conservatives like Andy Harris who are running for Congress or state senate or some other office. For example, Woody Jenkins, who narrowly lost a U.S. Senate race in 1994, is running for Congress in the March 8 special election in Louisiana.
Unfortunately, in the presidential campaign, the GOP has once again rejected the strategy that won 44 states in 1980 and 49 states in 1984: the strategy of uniting social, economic, and national-security conservatives behind a conservative presidential candidate. But that doesn’t mean that conservatives should or will sit on their hands. It just means that, in 2008, they will shift their work and their resources to conservative candidates up and down the line. And, in November, conservatives and Establishment Republicans, and pro- and anti-McCain Republicans, can come together to elect those conservatives who are running on the Republican ticket.
It is in the races and political futures of Andy Harris and Woody Jenkins and leaders like them that conservatives should invest their time and effort and money, this year and for the foreseeable future.
For conservatives to finally come to power – with conservatives in the White House and in the majority in Congress and in state legislatures and in other offices – will take a long time. Right now, we have a thin bench. We don’t have the county committee members who can run for county chairman, the county chairmen who can run for state chairman; we don’t have the city council members who can run for state representative and then state senate, the state senators who can run for Congress or for governor, the governors or senators who can run for president.
It will take six to eight years to rebuild the conservative movement, and at least that long for conservatives to hold both the White House and the leadership positions in Congress and at other levels. It is not a journey that will be completed overnight, but it is a journey we must begin today.
If you are a conservative, don’t just complain. Do something.
- First, don’t assume that your representatives at various levels in party positions and public office are conservatives because they say they are, or because they use conservative rhetoric. Plenty of politicians who know how to sound conservative. There are many “sort of” conservatives who, in their hearts, believe in the conservative philosophy, but are just not willing to rock the boat. It might make them look bad; it wouldn’t be prudent. The kind of conservative leader we must raise up is someone whose record demonstrates a willingness to take on the party Establishment and make every honorable effort to beat them.
- Become a delegate to your party’s county convention, state convention, or national convention, and encourage like-minded people to do the same, including family members and friends, neighbors and co-workers, and fellow members of religious or civic groups. If you can’t be a delegate – if, say, the filing deadline has passed – attend anyway if you can, or learn how the process works so you can be a delegate the next time.
- Consider running for party office or public office. Don’t fail to run just because there’s an incumbent in place, or because some other person is already running. Even if you don’t win this year, you can pave the way for future victories. Who knew, when an obscure history professor named Newt Gingrich lost races for Congress in 1974 and 1976, that he would one day be the first conservative Speaker of the House?
- If you do not run yourself, recruit someone else to run, or find someone already running whom you can help. Contribute financially, help raise money, and otherwise get involved as a volunteer.
- Begin to build an organization – something that can be as simple as a mailing list or a telephone list of people in your area who agree with you on conservative issues. Get some political experience, and help other conservatives get experience; the greatest advantage that the Establishment has is that its members know little things like when meetings are going to be held and what opportunities for political advancement are available. (Sometimes a small effort can have a major impact. I know of one city where most Republicans are conservatives, but the Establishment makes sure that only a few people – their kind of people – know when the meetings are held to pick the candidates. A few hundred phone calls or e-mails by conservatives before each such meeting would be enough to fix that problem.)
Yes, conservatives will not have the White House for the next four years. But any one election – even a presidential election – is just one battle in a long, long war. Conservatives must follow the advice of Winston Churchill: Never give in, never give in, never, never, never, never.
TOPICS: Constitution/Conservatism; Government; News/Current Events; Politics/Elections
KEYWORDS: 2008; anyonebutmccain; cindymccain; conservativevote; johnmccain; mccain; mccainsucks; mccaintruthfile; mccrazy; mcfraud; mcinsane; mcmexico; mcnasty; mcpain; mctraitor; mctreason; mcvain; nomccain; rino; viguerie
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1
posted on
02/25/2008 5:34:35 PM PST
by
ovrtaxt
To: ovrtaxt
Conservatives resources are finite. We must stop supporting the Republican Establishment, and, instead, support the principled conservatives who need and deserve our help. Bump!
2
posted on
02/25/2008 5:36:18 PM PST
by
ovrtaxt
(Member of the irate, tireless minority, keen on setting brushfires of freedom in the minds of men.)
To: ovrtaxt
This is absolutely perfect and something I’ve been saying for a long time. Nice to see it written down so eloquently.
For the down and dirty version, read my tag.
3
posted on
02/25/2008 5:39:22 PM PST
by
upchuck
(Who wins doesn't matter. They're all liberals. Spend your time and money to take back Congress.)
To: ovrtaxt
4
posted on
02/25/2008 5:40:01 PM PST
by
Randy Larsen
(Arrogance IS my virtue!)
To: upchuck
5
posted on
02/25/2008 5:40:22 PM PST
by
ovrtaxt
(Member of the irate, tireless minority, keen on setting brushfires of freedom in the minds of men.)
To: ovrtaxt
Good post, excellent advise. This election reminds me of Gideon and the culling down to three hundred to demonstrate WHO is ultimately in control....
6
posted on
02/25/2008 5:42:47 PM PST
by
Just mythoughts
(Isa.3:4 And I will give children to be their princes, and babes shall rule over them.)
To: upchuck
For real reform, voter fraud convictions have to continue. The electoral map from 04 highlighted voter fraud hot spots that are unbelievable. My own Cook County is the hottest spot outside of NYC and LA.
7
posted on
02/25/2008 5:43:45 PM PST
by
Thebaddog
(Dog breath? I don't think so.)
To: ovrtaxt
It’s all about the money. My candidate has already been chosen and I haven’t voted yet.
8
posted on
02/25/2008 5:44:17 PM PST
by
Eagles6
To: ovrtaxt
Aye. Rino extinction is job #1.
9
posted on
02/25/2008 5:46:47 PM PST
by
VRWC For Truth
(No mas Juan "Traitor Rat" McAmnesty)
To: ovrtaxt
10
posted on
02/25/2008 5:47:09 PM PST
by
Randy Larsen
(Arrogance IS my virtue!)
To: ovrtaxt
The RINOs won't like this philosophy and strategy. Not one bit.
Good!
11
posted on
02/25/2008 5:50:40 PM PST
by
AmericanInTokyo
(Sean, Rush, Laura, Mark, Michelle, Neil, Michael nor others do ANY thinking for THIS conservative.)
To: ovrtaxt
Vote Third. Don’t be part of a RINO mandate. Make the RINO extinct now or you will never see another conservative nominated.
12
posted on
02/25/2008 5:51:26 PM PST
by
ex-snook
("Above all things, truth beareth away the victory.")
To: VRWC For Truth
13
posted on
02/25/2008 5:52:29 PM PST
by
ovrtaxt
(Member of the irate, tireless minority, keen on setting brushfires of freedom in the minds of men.)
To: ovrtaxt
He is an excellent guy! I think he is espousing the 1976 strategy.
14
posted on
02/25/2008 5:57:08 PM PST
by
MSF BU
(++)
To: VRWC For Truth
Aye. Rino extinction is job #1.Well let me see, first your would need to define Rino. Then I would be curious how many Republicans would be purged by your definition.
What I would suspect you may find out is that if you get rid of everyone that is defined as a Rino by many here you wouldn't have enough voters left to elect very many people.
The plan laid out in the article starting this topic has merit if you start out with an understanding that it takes many more people than just strict conservatives to win an election and understand other peoples views you might have a chance to turn the Republican party more conservative.
However you might find that purging everyone you think is a Rino would leave you with a minority that couldn't elect anyone.
15
posted on
02/25/2008 5:58:27 PM PST
by
billva
To: ex-snook
I’ll vote third party for President, (if there’s a conservative choice) and I’ll vote for the most pro-small government candidate in every other race, regardless of party.
16
posted on
02/25/2008 6:00:21 PM PST
by
ovrtaxt
(Member of the irate, tireless minority, keen on setting brushfires of freedom in the minds of men.)
To: billva
RINOs are easy to define: Any member of the GOP who thinks big government is a good thing.
They can’t win without us.
17
posted on
02/25/2008 6:01:58 PM PST
by
ovrtaxt
(Member of the irate, tireless minority, keen on setting brushfires of freedom in the minds of men.)
To: ovrtaxt
And very soon, we will see replies on this thread which I call "The Abusive Husband Mantra." It is some variant of, 'If you don't vote republican, we will have a marxist in the White House.
It will be your fault....'
Probably been posted before I had a chance to get this out.
18
posted on
02/25/2008 6:07:52 PM PST
by
Jemian
("I hate the media." ~~ Kayak)
To: Jemian
Hey! Whaddayaknow. It hasn’t been posted yet, not in the pure form.
19
posted on
02/25/2008 6:09:31 PM PST
by
Jemian
("I hate the media." ~~ Kayak)
To: Jemian
Actually, no. The wifebeater brigade hasn’t come around yet- except for one post maybe, it was like mild verbal abuse.
20
posted on
02/25/2008 6:10:27 PM PST
by
ovrtaxt
(Member of the irate, tireless minority, keen on setting brushfires of freedom in the minds of men.)
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