The fact of the matter, is that the genius of Richard Viguerie was responsible for so much of the conservative gotv and fundraising success of the Reagan era. He pioneered the use of computerized and segmented donor lists for political direct mail. He supported Reagan, despite their early differences, and played no small part in his success, the success of conservatism, and the now apparently parasitic continuation of the modern Republican apparatus, which has no claim whatsoever to the Reagan mantle. This he seeks to rectify.
Viguerie compelled Reagan rightward. Direct mail testing of fundraising appeals compelled this, for him and for many others, who were met with electoral success as a result. The party did not learn, however, and is now in the doldrums, with a very large decline in contributions. Why is that? They've become arrogant and have completely lost touch, that's why. You see it every single day here on FR, and it's devolving rather than improving.
And you attack the messenger, who was a key architect of the modern conservative resurgence.
Talk about eating your own, as far as fellow conservatives. Trouble is, your perception of your own seems to be the party establishment, rather than a set of ideals. What Viguerie advocates is sound. Elect conservatives. Forget political party, if the Republicans refuse to field conservative candidates. Create a conservative candidacy in the absence of one in any given contest, via third parties if necessary. Or, even a conservative Democrat, all other options failing. This moves the discourse steadily rightward, much along the lines of the steady infiltration of the Republican Party by the left, that has steadily moved the discourse leftward. Turn the tables.
That is the way out of this mess. He sees it, has seen it for a very long time, and your attempting to smear him does a disservice to us all.
I most wholeheartedly agree. Unfortunately, the death grip both major "political party's" have on the electorate is beyond stunning. One can witness the result daily even here on FreeRepublic.com. Regardless of how often the site owner declares this is not a GOP forum the "party" faithful continue their march towards the cliff!
But I digress. The past is the past and I am all about moving forward. Trouble is, Viguerie is a third party guy, who fails to recognize that a lot of the Tea Partyers are both current and former conservative Republicans, who think of themselves as “Tea Party Republicans.”
Incumbency is the primary problem. Not one incumbent is irreplaceable. If nothing else, the Tea Parties have shined the spot light on the incumbents, complete with their mega-million campaign funds, so this time around in 2010, their conservative challengers should have an energetic base of volunteers ready work in their campaigns to get out the vote.
Primaries should be robust, with challengers for every incumbent.
Should the decades long incumbent win the GOP primary, then s/he will still be open to a third party challenger but this time that challenger might make more of a dent.