Posts on Richard Vigeurie

Richard Viguerie has launched a new Ron Paul website - UltimateRonPaul.com - but insists that it is in no way an endorsement: "I remain uncommitted to any of the Republican candidates, but it is clear that Ron Paul is truly a principled conservative in the grand tradition of Robert Taft, Barry Goldwater, and Ronald Reagan."

Richard Viguerie puts the kibosh on Huckabee, saying that while he "stands strong on some issues like abortion that are important to social conservatives, a careful examination of his record as governor reveals that he is just another wishy-washy Republican who enthusiastically promotes big government."

Amid the reports and speculation about the potential for the Religious Right to abandon the Republican Party should Rudy Giuliani be its presidential nominee in 2008, it looks as if even those who participated in the ultra-secretive deliberations don’t even agree about what the purpose of such a move might be.  

While Gary Bauer was primarily concerned about what sort of dangerous and counter-productive implications such talk might have for the Republican Party and the right-wing movement, Tony Perkins was stating that while they have no desire to abandon the GOP, they would do so if necessary:

[T]he intent here is not to create a third party. What -- what we`re saying is -- like myself, you know, I came to the political process. I ran for office, held office, because of the issue of life. And -- and the vast majority of social conservatives came to the Republican Party because of the life issue and the other social issues. If the party leaves those issues, I think it`s unreasonable for them to demand that they stay in the party. And I don`t think they will.

And then you have Richard Viguerie, who was also at the meeting, telling Matt Lewis of Townhall.com something else entirely:

Viguerie believes the conservative movement has been lied to by the establishment Republicans for 45 years, and that it may be time to launch a true conservative party.  He resents the idea espoused by some Republicans that conservatives "have no other place to go." 

He tells me that the 3rd party rumor isn't an ad hoc one-time effort to stop Rudy Giuliani, as was reported (I wonder how the rumors that this was about Rudy got started???).  Instead, it is a long-term paradigm shift in which conservatives will forever leave the GOP, it's natural home since Ronald Reagan:

"If we do this, we're going to do a very well thought-out, well-planned effort ... this is not something that will be effective just for the '08 presidential election."

Unlike other years when conservatives have fielded candidates merely to make a point, Viguerie tells me this new idea "goes far beyond the '08 elections".

While Bauer’s main goal is to maintain the Right’s standing and influence within the Republican Party and Perkins says there is no desire to create a third party alternative to the GOP, Viguerie appears intent on destroying once and for all the bond between the Right and the political party he feels has done nothing but lie to them. 

If these right-wing activists and leaders had hoped that by threatening to abandon the GOP they would in some way help unify the movement heading into 2008, it looks as, so far, they’ve only managed to accomplish the exact opposite.  

Richard Viguerie, who hasn't had anything nice to say about anybody lately, commends Mitt Romeny's latest campaign ad: "Governor Romney's ad shows that he understands that the Republican Party can't reach the political promised land without new leaders who cherish and practice proven conservative ideals and principles. Grassroots conservatives can be heartened by Gov. Romney's nod to our values, and we should encourage the other top-tier candidates to follow and expand on his lead."

After urging President Bush to pick a fight over the next Attorney General, Richard Viguerie blasts Bush for nominating Mukasey: "President Bush has blown another chance to energize the discouraged, disheartened, and disillusioned base of the Republican Party by picking an ideological fight ... Bush is now the lamest of lame ducks."

It is not very often that right-wing leaders offer up op-eds setting out their blatantly partisan agenda for all the world to see. But today, right-wing direct mail pioneer Richard Viguerie did just that in the Los Angeles Times, urging President Bush to nominate someone to replace disgraced Attorney General Alberto Gonzales - someone whose primary qualification appears to be the ability to start a fight with Democrats:

If the Democrats block the confirmation, expose them for their partisanship, for their refusal to be tough on law enforcement out of fear that they will upset their own base, and for their efforts to use the unelected judiciary to create policies that would never be enacted through a democratic process.

If they don't confirm the first nominee, send up another, making sure that he or she is "worse" (from the Democrats' perspective) than the first one. If they block that one, do it again.

…

If the Republican Party is to fight its way back, the president must fight his way out of the low 30s in his approval ratings and back into the 50s. Much depends on the course of the war in Iraq, but the beginning of political recovery will come with a take-no-prisoners nominee for attorney general.

…

The time to change course is now, or never. If the president picks a fight over this nomination by appointing a qualified conservative, the GOP base will stand with him. If he tries conciliation again, expecting a different result, he will become the lamest of lame ducks.

“If he tries conciliation again”? When exactly was the last time Bush tried that?  Has he ever tried it? 

You also have to love Viguerie’s logic that Bush should nominate someone explicitly for the purpose of angering Democrats and thus gaining partisan advantage while claiming that, if Democrats oppose the nominee, Republicans will be able to “expose them for their partisanship.” 

But given that Bush has recently signaled that he is, like always, more than willing to pick a fight purely for political gain, it will not come as much of a surprise if he takes Viguerie’s advice when it comes to naming his next Attorney General.  

Viguerie offers President Bush some suggestions on replacing Alberto Gonzales: Miguel Estrada, Priscilla Owen, Charles Pickering, William Pryor, or Rick Santorum.

"Confront the Democrats, don't 'reach out' to them," says Richard Viguerie. "Confronting the Democrats and rallying the conservative base is also a way for Bush to raise his approval ratings from the 30s, perhaps even into the 50s. And that would help him and Congressional Republicans on their entire agenda."

For many frustrated right-wing activists, news of Karl Rove’s departure from the White House may have felt like good riddance to bad rubbish. Richard Viguerie called it “good news for conservatives.” Paul Weyrich, another old hand of the conservative movement, said, “You have to say that if (Rove) can claim credit for what happened in 2004, it is reasonable that he is somewhat responsible for where we are in 2007.”

But if these right-wing activists can pin the blame for the administration’s woes on the president’s erstwhile “architect,” they will have a hard time glossing over Rove’s role in giving them an important berth of political power in the Bush White House.

Richard Viguerie sees warning signs "that Thompson may be a lot like Bush. Remember when Bush was running, a lot of good people thought he was a conservative. Boy, were they taken in!" Viguerie says Thompson is "no different from a lot of other candidates who'd like conservative support without firmly committing to conservative positions. I'm going to do my best to see that doesn't happen."

Almost from the moment he entered the Republican Primary, Rudy Giuliani’s campaign has come under fire from the Right.  

In large part because of his marital history and his views on reproductive choice, several high profile right-wing leaders – including James Dobson, Richard Land, Richard Viguerie, and Tony Perkins - have already publicly declared that they will not, under any circumstances, vote for Giuliani or support his campaign.  In addition to this pressure, Giuliani is also coming under attack from grassroots organizations such as Catholics Against Rudy, which seeks to expose his “abysmal record on non-negotiable ‘Culture of Life’ issues.”

Faced with this mounting opposition to his candidacy, Giuliani has recently launched a concerted effort to neutralize these efforts and perhaps even entice a fair number of so-called “values voters” by appealing to their desire to see the Supreme Court utterly controlled by ultra-conservative justices.

Dominance of the Supreme Court has long been a right-wing goal and it is no secret that the confirmation of John Roberts and Samuel Alito to the court has been one of the most significant and, for the Right, most gratifying and highly-praised  accomplishments of the Bush administration.   

Going into the 2008 election, the future of the Supreme Court is going to be a central issue and those on the Right know, in the words of Tony Perkins, “that next vacancy is just so incredibly important” – which is exactly why Giuliani is currently in the midst of pledging to just about anyone who will listen that, if he wins the GOP nomination and is elected, he will deliver for the Right:

As President, I will nominate strict constructionist judges with respect for the rule of law and a proven fidelity to the Constitution – judges in the mold of Justices Scalia, Thomas and Alito and Chief Justice Roberts.

Giuliani’s commitment to nominating Scalia and Thomas-like judges has recently become a centerpiece of his campaign and is even listed as one of his “12 Commitments” that frame his campaign.  To demonstrate just how much Giuliani is banking on this pledge, his campaign recently unveiled a “Justice Advisory Committee” designed to signal to the Right just how committed he is to filling the bench with hard-right ideologues.  

Consisting of the likes of former Solicitor General Ted Olson, failed DC Circuit nominee Miguel Estrada, and Federalist Society co-founder Steven Calabresi, among others, Giuliani’s “Justice Advisory Committee” exists primarily in order to assure conservatives who may have qualms about him that he can and will deliver to them their ultimate prize: the Supreme Court.   

As Miguel Estrada stated during the unveiling of the committee:

[W]e need to make every effort we can to have the quality judicial appointments that we have had in Justice Alito and Chief Justice Roberts. And Rudy has stated in no uncertain terms that those are the models for what he looks for in his judges. He will be what our court system needs, is what our litigation society needs, and I am confident that with all of our help and your help he will be able to bring that home.”

For his part, Calabresi did his part to drive home the message:

 “The next President of the United States could easily end up making four appointments to the Supreme Court and I think the future of our 25 year struggle to rein in judicial activism is at stake. I’m convinced that Rudy Giuliani is the man who can win that fight. It’s an honor to be here and to be a member of his campaign advisory committee.”

Giuliani may not be the Right’s favorite candidate, but with no clear front-runner emerging, he appears to be seeking to position himself as the candidate most committed to fundamentally and lastingly shifting the balance on the Supreme Court in favor of the Right – a temptation he hopes just might be enough to weaken the resolve of even his most hardened right-wing foes.  

Citizen Outreach and Americans for Tax Reform plan Conservative Leadership Conference for October in Nevada. Gingrich, Thompson, Tancredo, Giuliani, McCain, Romney invited.

While Fred Thompson’s presumptive candidacy for president has been bolstered by right-wing activists dreaming of finding a perfect match in the “Law & Order” star, some in the conservative movement are taking a skeptical look at his political career, and chinks in his image are emerging to match those of the other leading Republican contenders.

First, James Dobson came out early on to say of Thompson that “I don't think he's a Christian; at least that's my impression” (a statement he later tried to back away from). Then, a video clip from his Senate campaign was released in which he appears to show support for abortion rights. And the Supreme Court’s recent decision to strike down a provision of campaign finance reform – FEC v. Wisconsin Right to Life -- reminded many anti-abortion activists of his critical role in passing the legislation that they strongly oppose, as well as his investigative subpoenas into the finances of interest groups, which raised hackles among religious-right groups targeted.

On Saturday, the Los Angeles Times reported that, when he worked as a lobbyist in Washington, Thompson took a job from a pro-choice group to convince the first Bush Administration to lift the “gag rule” on federally-funded clinics mentioning abortion. A former colleague called Thompson’s denial of pro-choice lobbying “absolutely bizarre.”

And yesterday, the Times reported more on right-wing outrage at Thompson during his campaign-reform days, not only from McCain-Feingold and his subpoenas – which James Bopp, a lawyer who represented the groups back then and who now works for Mitt Romney’s campaign, called an unconstitutional “fishing expedition” – but also for failing to dig up dirt on a supposed fundraising scandal involving President Clinton. Larry Klayman – founder of Judicial Watch and a key figure seeking Clinton’s impeachment -- put the Tennessee senator on a “wanted” poster.

Longtime conservative movement activist Richard Viguerie is calling on the Right to “Beware Fred Thompson”: “Fred Thompson plays a tough guy in the movies and on television, but in real life he is a marshmallow who would pose no threat to the Big Government Establishment that continues to dominate Washington.”

At the same time, Family Research Council President Tony Perkins has come to Thompson’s defense on the lobbying charge, and he received an enthusiastic response at a Young Republicans this weekend.

“With all the [candidates] who keep changing their minds on abortion, that's got to be unsettling,” Paul Weyrich said of these reports on Thompson and abortion. But Thompson’s star power and personality will likely allow him to keep pace with the other leading GOP candidates, who have their own issues with the finicky right-wing base. For example, while John McCain’s campaign reform work has apparently made him a permanent enemy of the Religious Right, former Sen. Rick Santorum said that he and others might forgive Thompson for the same because, unlike McCain, Thompson has not “made a career of poking conservative colleagues in the eye.”

Rudy Giuliani has already scored “negative endorsements” from right-wing leaders such as James Dobson, Richard Land, and Richard Viguerie and it looks as if he can now add the Family Research Council’s Tony Perkins to that list:

"Speaking as a private citizen, no, no, I could not support (Giuliani)," said Tony Perkins, president of the Family Research Council, which has about a half-million members. "The 20 years I've been involved in politics, the life issue has been at the very top. How could I turn my back on that?"

Perkins said that should Giuliani win the nomination, he would vote for a third-party candidate who reflected his values. "It wouldn't be the first time," Perkins added in an interview last week.

A potential Giuliani win in the primary also appears to be a grave concern to a few other right-wing figures:

"When I give my support for a candidate, I am giving the green light, if he wins, all the way down the line in terms of so many moral and social issues," said [Lou] Sheldon, chairman of the Traditional Values Coalition, which represents 43,000 churches. "I'm personally not supporting Giuliani," he added. Sheldon is backing former Massachusetts Gov. Mitt Romney in the primaries.

…

"Where Mayor Giuliani is today, I absolutely could not support him” …said Pat Mahoney, executive director of the Christian Defense Coalition.

But that whole dynamic could change, says Mahoney, with just two words – “and those two words are Hillary Clinton.”

Mahoney, like Sheldon, said that if Giuliani pledges to support conservative "strict constructionist" jurists -- who do not believe the Constitution mandates a federal right to abortion -- to the Supreme Court, the prominent social conservatives could vote Republican in the 2008 election. Sheldon added that support for a third-party candidate is a "wasted vote."

…

"I have talked to many Christian leaders privately, and I don't know of any faith-based evangelical or Catholic organization, pro-family, pro-life, that could support Rudy Giuliani and stand with him," Mahoney said. "But on a personal level," he added, should Giuliani face a Democrat in the general election, "then what are you faced with? You are faced with appointments to the Supreme Court that could be two or three. It is a moral and spiritual dilemma."

So not one right-wing leader is willing to endorse Giuliani, but apparently their fear of Hillary Clinton and for the future of the Supreme Court might just be enough to get some of them to abandon everything they claim to stand for.

Mahoney claims that the Right is facing a “moral and spiritual dilemma,” but what they are really facing is a political dilemma because their primary concern is that if they refuse to back Giuliani and he ends up winning not only the GOP nomination but the presidency, their hold on the Republican Party will have been dealt a devastating blow.

And the Right’s dilemma is not just limited to a potential Giuliani nomination – it plagues them with all of the current Republican frontrunners. If they don’t back Romney, Thompson, McCain or whoever becomes the GOP nominee and that candidate wins the White House, the Right is going to be left out in the cold. But if they do back one of the current frontrunners, they will in essence be admitting that their political power is more important than their self-described principles.

Ironic as it may be, the Right’s best hope for 2008 might just be to stand back from the presidential campaign and election altogether and hope that the GOP’s nominee loses, at which point they will be well-positioned to trot out their standard line about how the Republicans lost because they abandoned their right-wing base and quickly re-establish themselves as the GOP’s source of electoral power.

Last week, Richard Land was a guest on “Hardball With Chris Matthews” where he stated that while he did not endorse political candidates, that didn’t mean he wouldn’t “negatively endorse” them.  And that is just what he proceeded to do regarding Rudy Giuliani:

I don‘t think I could sell him to most of them and I wouldn‘t try.  I would say vote your values and your beliefs and convictions and have to leave it to them to connect the dots.  But I have said publicly, I don‘t endorse candidates, but I‘m negatively endorsing. I could not vote for Giuliani.

In addition to Land’s negative endorsement, Giuliani has also received a similar endorsement from right-wing direct-mail pioneer Richard Viguerie:

“If the Republican Party nominates Rudy Giuliani as its candidate for either president or vice president, I will personally work to defeat the GOP ticket in 2008,” says Richard A. Viguerie, author of Conservatives Betrayed: How George W. Bush and Other Big Government Republicans Hijacked the Conservative Cause.

And if that wasn’t enough, Focus on the Family’s James Dobson has now taken to the pages of WorldNetDaily to declare that under no circumstances will he support Giuliani:

My conclusion from this closer look at the current GOP front-runner comes down to this: Speaking as a private citizen and not on behalf of any organization or party, I cannot, and will not, vote for Rudy Giuliani in 2008. It is an irrevocable decision. If given a Hobson's – Dobson's? – choice between him and Sens. Hillary Clinton or Barrack Obama, I will either cast my ballot for an also-ran – or if worse comes to worst – not vote in a presidential election for the first time in my adult life. My conscience and my moral convictions will allow me to do nothing else.

It should also be noted that Dobson has already negatively endorsed John McCain and has suggested that potential candidate Fred Thompson is not enough of a Christian.