Takeover by Richard A. Viguerie Read Free Book Online Page A

the Old Right conservatives. Probably his greatest benefit when compared to other potential candidates was his skill as a communicator, which made him electable; and his position, differentiation, and benefit established his brand, and his days on TV and in the movies had made it trusted.
    In other words, conservatives needed a salesman, and Ronald Reagan, his skills honed in Hollywood, television, and on the dinner circuit, was the best salesman for conservative ideas the self-made entrepreneurs of his early “kitchen cabinet” ever saw.
    Today, the number one problem conservatives have is that we have no one leader who has all four of my four horsemen, although we have six to eight young conservative governors and members of Congress who in the next few years could easily qualify.
    The notion that conservatives needed to sell their ideas marked a huge mental shift for the conservative movement. Many who supported Goldwater and who were early adherents of the movement tended to think the truth of conservative criticism of liberalism was self-evident, as illustrated with that great quote by Morton Blackwell about the “Sir Galahad Theory of Politics,” Morton has often gently criticized many of our fellow conservatives who think it is sufficient to be right (as in correct) and then victory will come our way.
    Aren’t we conservatives in much the same position today?
    Establishment Republicans today are making the same mistake of embracing me-tooism that they did back in the 1960s.
    When over 60 percent of Americans think Big Government is the greatest threat to freedom, it is clear that our conservative ideas resonate with millions of voters, but the establishment Republican Party and its leaders do a terrible job of selling those ideas, or worse yet, simply run away from them.
    Goldwater’s defeat caused a complete reassessment of how conservatives framed the debate at that time, and Reagan’s well-aimedcritiques of liberal influence on government and culture, coupled with his optimistic belief that America’s best days were ahead if only the shackles of government could be thrown off, showed them a way forward.
    Reagan polled nearly one million more votes in the general election than his Democratic opponent, incumbent Democratic governor Pat Brown did, and he did it without the support of liberal Republicans.
    Two of their groups, Republicans for Progress and the Ripon Society, pointedly refused to endorse Reagan’s race for California governor even as they quite publicly enthused over the GOP moderates, such as Governors Nelson and Winthrop Rockefeller, Senator Edward Brooke of Massachusetts, Senator Charles Percy of Illinois, Governor George Romney of Michigan, and Howard Baker running for senator in Tennessee. 5
    Just four years earlier, former vice president Richard Nixon had been defeated by about 300,000 votes for the office Reagan had just won. The former vice president had been savaged by the establishment media and in an angry outburst declared that he was holding his “last press conference” after his defeat, saying, “You won’t have Nixon to kick around anymore.”
    Nixon had not abandoned politics or his presidential aspirations. Even though he was widely distrusted by conservatives for selling out to Rockefeller in the 1960 Convention fight over the Republican platform, Nixon had worked hard for Goldwater in 1964, even making a speech at the San Francisco convention, admonishing the Senator’s establishment detractors by telling them:
    Before this convention we were Goldwater Republicans, Rockefeller Republicans, Scranton Republicans, Lodge Republicans, but now that this convention has met and made its decision, we are Republicans, period, working for Barry Goldwater. … And to those few, if there are some, who say that they are going to sit it out or take a walk, or even go on a boat ride, I have an answer in the words of Barry Goldwater in 1960—Let’s grow up, Republicans, let’s go to