Received by email:
Richard Viguerie Says Conservative Movement Needs to be
Re-launched With a New Barry Goldwater--Type Candidate
(Harrisburg, Pennsylvania) In a keynote speech at a meeting of the Pennsylvania Republican Assembly, Richard A. Viguerie, author of Conservatives Betrayed: How George W. Bush and Other Big Government Republicans Hijacked the Conservative Cause, said conservatives were suffering through “dark, difficult, and discouraging days” and advocated a new Barry Goldwater-type candidate to re-launch the movement.
Citing polls that showed the people trusted the Democrats more on fiscal issues, Viguerie said the Republican “brand” had been seriously damaged. “Too many Republican politicians, especially President Bush and Congressional leaders, have betrayed the trust of their supporters and the voters,” he said.
Warning that the road back for conservatives could take six to ten years, Viguerie said the movement should look for a presidential candidate in 2008 who could set the stage for victory in 2012 or 2016.
“For 2008, we should not be looking for the next Ronald Reagan. He or she is not on the horizon. Instead, we should be looking for the next Barry Goldwater,” Viguerie said, explaining that Goldwater knew he would not win but ran in 1964 to launch the conservative movement.
Viguerie said the Goldwater candidacy energized conservatism and involved millions of new activists for the first time as donors, campaign workers, precinct and county chairmen, and delegates and alternates to county, state, and national conventions. He said that this participation later led to the election of many local and state conservative candidates and eventually resulted in the election of Ronald Reagan as President and the Republican takeover of both houses of Congress.
“Let’s send out the word that conservatives are looking for a principled, articulate, charismatic leader to carry our banner in 2008 and possibly beyond,” he said.
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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)
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