Political Cortex: Brain Food for the Body Politic

I feel very angry and betrayed" by the GOP, some of whose elected officials have backed a "guest worker" immigration plan, abortion rights and tax increases, said Richard Viguerie, chairman of Conservative-HQ.com. "We should withhold support from all major Republican [presidential] candidates today. Not one of them deserves our support today," he told a ballroom full of activists at the Conservative Political Action Conference annual meeting Thursday.

Further, he said, conservatives should withhold "all support" from GOP national committees, which Viguerie said have not produced federal candidates who adhere to conservative principles.

While it is not clear that the conservative activists that make GOP presidential campaigns hum -- or ho hum -- will follow Viguerie's lead on this, there are certainly signs of discontent. Eighty-something Phyllis Schlafly, one of the founders of the modern conservative movement and rising star Ken Blackwell seemed to share Viguerie's discontent.

The Houston Chronicle reported:

For a party that grew and achieved in large part by force of its unity, this rift between conservatives and the Republican power structure is profound. It could be either the ruin of the GOP or the re-making of it.

"We don't want to be the Republican Party, we want to be the conservative movement," said Phyllis Schlafly, legendary doyenne of the right. "We cannot afford to be 'Bush Republicans.' "

With her trademark shiny gold eagle pin perched on her shoulder, Schlafly criticized Bush over the Harriet Miers Supreme Court nomination -- the right questioned her conservative qualifications -- and his handling of immigration issues.

"We cannot afford to let Mexico turn us into a two-language nation," she said, as her audience roared approval and banged on tables in support.

The Globe continued:

At least one conference attendant sported a sticker that featured a circle with a line drawn through the words "Rudy McRomney" -- broadcasting the wearer's opposition to the early leaders in polls for the GOP nomination, former New York Mayor Rudolph Giuliani, Arizona Senator John McCain and former Massachusetts Governor Mitt Romney.

Conservatives said they are frustrated and angry, blaming the GOP's massive losses in the 2006 elections on Republicans who deviated from a hard-line conservative agenda. The mood also puts added pressure on a slew of GOP presidential candidates set to speak to the CPAC meeting Friday.

All of the GOP presidential hopefuls except McCain are expected to address the gathering over the next few days.

The prepared text of Viguerie's panel presentation is available at his book promo web site, Conservatives Betrayed.  Here are a few excerpts:  

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.

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.

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.

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.

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 Viguerie's disgruntlement may not be of any help to the tiny-but-persistent Constitution Party. The theocratic third party has waited in the wings for a prominent defector from the GOP to serve as their standard bearer for several presidential election cycles, and so far no one has fallen sufficiently out of the fold. There are often rumblings of this sort in the conservative movement, but time will tell. Maybe the Constitution Party will finally get its day in the sun. But probably not, if people listen to Viguerie.

Last summer I wrote:  

Back in 1976, conservatives faced a dillemma. Gerald Ford was narrowly nominated as the GOP candidate for president, after having been appointed as vice-president and then assuming the presidency, after the resignation of Richard Nixon. Ford was not conservative enough for movement conservatives. So, led by conservative direct mail entrepreneur Richard Viguerie, top movement leaders Howard Phillips, William Rusher, Paul Weyrich and Lee Edwards, among others, sought to join forces with the American Independent Party, of former Alabama Governor George Wallace. When AIP wouldn't have them, movement conservatives mostly sat-out the 1976 presidential election. They decided four years of Jimmy Carter would be better than eight years of Gerald Ford. They began to create the organization of what was then known as the "New Right," (part of which now clearly defines elements of the religious right), and to prepare for Reagan's next run for president.

Richard Viguerie has proposed that conservatives do something similar now.