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By Paul M. Weyrich
January 4, 2006
While culture is more important than politics,
and the next conservatism must include a new movement to restore
our traditional culture, politics remains important, too.
The political question is, what vehicle should the next conservatism
choose in politics? Even a powerful new culturally conservative
movement will need a relationship with a political party.
Some conservatives will argue that we should create a new
political party. I understand that sentiment. In many ways,
the Republican Party has been a disappointment.
But the fact remains that our whole political system is tilted
powerfully against third parties. Third parties can and do
play useful roles, especially in raising issues the two main
parties would rather avoid (like immigration and the damage
done by free trade). But in the end, it is virtually certain
that national elections will be won by either the Republican
or Democratic Party.
In my opinion, as someone who has spent most of his life in
politics, that means the next conservatism must attempt to
re-take the Republican Party. We have to do again what we
did starting in the 1960s and ending in the nomination of
Ronald Reagan in 1980.
Of course, many Republicans will tell us, "You don't
need to re-take the Republican Party for conservatism. It
is conservative now." Well, that isn't exactly accurate.
On some issues it is true. The Bush administration has nominated
good judges, and most Republicans in the Senate have tried
to get them confirmed. We have cut taxes again. There are
other examples of real conservatism in today's Republican
Party.
But there are too many issues where the Republican Party,
openly or covertly, has sold us out. Its policy of promoting
democracy around the world through wars is Wilsonianism, which
is the opposite of conservatism. On immigration and trade
issues, it could hardly be worse. On the culture, it tells
cultural conservatives it agrees with us, but what it actually
does behind closed doors is often another story. Frankly,
many Washington Republicans look on our beliefs on issues
like feminism and "gay rights" with secrete derision.
They tell us what we want to hear to our faces, but they don't
believe it. They have accepted the rules laid down by Political
Correctness, at least to the point where they aren't willing
to break them.
So, again, in my view, unless we are prepared to be used and
then disregarded by Republicans over and over, we need to
re-take the Republican Party. How?
First, we will have to get behind a candidate. The candidate
has to be really one of us. The candidate has to be willing
to fight for our issues and to articulate our viewpoint. And
the candidate has to agree that when elected he will put our
people in positions of power. If we can get that kind of commitment,
then we should back this candidate in every precinct caucus
beginning in Iowa. Then we should be prepared for the states
which have primaries. If we can nominate this candidate and
elect him President then we can take over the Republican Party.
Just as George W. Bush appointed Ed Gillespie
and then Ken Mehlman, two very able technicians, the candidate
we back in 2008 must be ready to appoint the best political
technician in the country - someone who knows about re-taking
the party. That will be done state-by-state and, eventually,
precinct-by-precinct.
Unless we have a Presidential candidate
who will give us the best political operative in the country,
we won't get control of the party. The Goldwater people worked
their hearts out all over the nation and were able to win
state after state. But before long, the man who had brilliantly
engineered the Goldwater primary victories, F. Clifton White,
was out on the street replaced by an establishment GOP Chairman
and an establishment manager. To this day many believe Goldwater's
devastating defeat could have been less severe had White been
in charge for the general election. It is not sufficient to
take over the party at the precinct level without a commitment
that the right people will be in charge at the national level.
Once we have succeeded in re-taking the
Republican Party for the next conservatism, we cannot stop.
As surely as anything, the usual Washington types will re-take
it from us under our noses, telling us what we want to hear
while doing the opposite. The next conservatism needs a virtually
automatic mechanism to primary any Republicans who stray.
We have to make absolutely certain that any Republican who
sells us out pays a price.
If we succeed in re-taking the Republican
Party, and then keeping hold of it, we will have a powerful
ally in keeping the state out of our faces and off our backs
as we work to recover our culture. That is why politics must
remain important to all of us.
Paul M. Weyrich is the Chairman and
CEO of the Free Congress Foundation.
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