Richard Viguerie is not a well known name unless your into politics. Here is a little background on him from Dkosopedia:
In an autobiographical note, Viguerie wrote that in 1961 he became executive secretary of the conservative youth group, Young Americans for Freedom. “Since 1965, owner of direct marketing/advertising companies such as American Target Advertising. Political/campaign strategist, activist and conservative spokesman and writer,” he wrote.
“Pioneered political use of computerized direct mail. That technology was the Internet of its day: it enabled conservatives to get around liberals’ dominance of the mass media; it allowed thousands of conservative candidates, organizations and causes to get their messages to grassroots Americans,” he wrote.[1]
Viguerie founded Conservative Digest magazine in 1975 and served as its publisher for ten years.[2]
Basically Viguerie is conservatism and is somewhat a godfather of modern conservatism. What is even more interesting is the piece he wrote in today’s Washington Post:
As a candidate in 2000, George W. Bush was a Rorschach test. Country Club Republicans saw him as another George H.W. Bush; some conservatives, thinking wishfully, saw him as another Ronald Reagan. He called himself a “compassionate conservative,” which meant whatever one wanted it to mean. Experts from across the party’s spectrum were flown to Austin to brief Bush and reported back: “He’s one of us.”
Republicans were desperate to retake the White House, conservatives were desperate to get the Clinton liberals out and there was no direct heir to Reagan running for president. So most conservatives supported Bush as the strongest candidate — some enthusiastically and some, like me, reluctantly. After the disastrous presidency of his father, our support for the son was a triumph of hope over experience.
Once he took office, conservatives were willing to grant this Bush a honeymoon. We were happy when he proposed tax cuts (small, but tax cuts nonetheless) and when he pushed for a missile defense system. Then came the Sept. 11, 2001, terrorist attacks, and conservatives came to see support for the president as an act of patriotism.
That is just a little intro into his piece, here is where it gets interesting:
In 2004, Republican leaders pleaded with conservatives — particularly religious conservatives — to register people to vote and help them turn out on Election Day. Those efforts strengthened Republicans in Congress and probably saved the Bush presidency. We were told: Just wait till the second term. Then, the president, freed of concern over reelection and backed by a Republican Congress, would take off the gloves and fight for the conservative agenda. Just wait.
We’re still waiting.
Sixty-five months into Bush’s presidency, conservatives feel betrayed. After the “Bridge to Nowhere” transportation bill, the Harriet Miers Supreme Court nomination and the Dubai Ports World deal, the immigration crisis was the tipping point for us. Indeed, a Washington Post-ABC News poll found last week that Republican disapproval of Bush’s presidency had increased from 16 percent to 30 percent in one month. It is largely the defection of conservatives that is driving the president’s poll numbers to new lows.
Emboldened and interconnected as never before by alternative media, such as talk radio and Internet blogs, many conservatives have concluded that the benefits of unwavering support for the GOP simply do not, and will not, outweigh the costs.
The article deserves a thorough read by all. As it goes on it gets even more scathing as Viguerie blasts the culture of corruption and the response to Hurricane Katrina. In essence, it is another example of how must turmoil the Republicans Party is in right now and the support they are losing.