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He’s
been called a lot of things over the years, and
not all of them printable in a family e-zine. But
one thing conservative, Northern Virginia
fundraiser and strategist Richard Viguerie can
safely be called these days is perturbed.
In
Viguerie's view, one that is shared by a small but
influential cadre of life-long conservative/GOP
activists, the Republican Party has betrayed its
conservative base and abandoned its conservative
principles. The only recourse for the
jilted, then, is to stop being a mere
appendage of
the GOP and instead become a third political force
that operates independently of the sad, sorry and
often sordid world of party hackery.
Viguerie
has laid out his rage against the Republican
political class in a new book, "Conservatives
Betrayed." It’s not exactly the sort of
book that will find a place on the President’s
reading list. (Viguerie appends an indictment
“In the Court of Public Opinion” against
President Bush toward the end). But it’s sure to
be read by those who feel, as he does, that “big
government” conservatism is more than just an
oxy-moron, it’s an affront to the very
principles that conservatives have espoused and
fought for over the last 50 years.
But
when I had the opportunity to ask Mr. Viguerie
what sort of conservative leaders people should be
looking for, and what conservative policies they
should be supporting, the answer was, basically,
“We’re working on that.”
Okay.
The “we” in this case are folks like Paul
Weyrich, chairman of the Free Congress Foundation
in Washington, D.C., and William Lind, head of the
Center for Cultural Conservativism. In a recent
essay in The American Conservative, Weyrich
and Lind put some flesh on the bones of what a new
conservative movement ought to look like, stand
for and hope to achieve. In their article, Weyrich
and Lind write:
Real
conservatism rejects all ideologies, recognizing
them as armed cant. In their place, it offers a
way of life built upon customs, traditions, and
habits — themselves the products of the
experiences of many generations. Because people
are capable of learning over time, when they may
do so in a specific, continuous cultural
setting, the conservative way of life comes to
reflect the prudential virtues: modesty, the
dignity of labor, conservation and saving, the
importance of family and community, personal
duties and obligations, and caution in
innovation. While these virtues tend to manifest
themselves in most traditional societies, with
variations conservatives usually value, they
have had their happiest outcome in the
traditional culture of the Christian West.
From
this it follows that the next conservatism’s
foremost task is defending and restoring
Western, Judeo-Christian culture. Not only does
this mean the next conservatism is cultural
conservatism, it also tells us we must look
beyond politics.
This
is in keeping with Viguerie’s “third force”
approach, but goes much further. Looking
"beyond politics," Weyrich and Lind
focus instead on culture, where they believe the
true battle for a conservative future will be
fought (though not, they say, coercively, but by
example).
That
many people, and not just conservatives, believe
modern culture is a soulless wasteland is neither
a new observation nor a unique one. But while many
complain about the muck, they muddle through it,
hoping to find the ever-elusive pony. Not so for
Weyrich and Lind. Like countless utopians before
them, they believe that countering the culture’s
corrosive influence effectively means
conservatives must turn away from it almost
entirely.
Is
this reasonable, or even possible? For some
people, sure. But for the vast majority – and
even for the majority of conservatives – the
answer is and must be “no.” As much as we may
yearn for simpler, gentler, quieter times, these
times never really existed for the mass of
society. If anything, conservatives need the
tension and conflict modern society to reinforce
their own values and message. In other words,
without a reason to fight, why bother getting out
of bed?
Weyrich
and Lind are willing, it seems, to admit as much.
That’s why, even in the midst of their
nostalgia, they make a strong pitch for those who
might be a vaguely dissatisfied, but not quite
unwilling to give up the digital cable just yet.
They embrace the ideas of New Urbanism, a
distancing from the automobile culture and a
profound reshaping of the political culture.
And
it’s on the political side that Weyrich and Lind
give some genuine muscle to Viguerie’s “third
force.” It begins with another bipartisan
indictment of the nation’s politicians:
Restoring
the Republic requires breaking the monopoly of
professional politicians and two parties that
are for the most part one party — the Party of
I’ve Got Mine. The next conservatism should
promote increased use of ballot initiatives and
referenda, term limits, putting “none of the
above” on the ballot and requiring a new
election with new candidates if it wins, and
ending legalized bribery under the name of
campaign contributions. Yes, they sell their
votes. The two-party monopoly has generated a
vast culture of corruption in Washington, and
corruption is any republic’s deadliest enemy.
Viguerie
sounds similar themes in his book, where he echoes
the call for term limits, but goes further by
demanding that the restraints placed on third
parties be removed to give them an equal
opportunity to compete for minds and votes –
anything to break up the ruling
Democratic/Republican duopoly.
But
for all this discontent, Viguerie remains
optimistic. He says that conservatives beat the
establishment in 1964 (over the “Rockefeller
Republicans”), in 1980, (with Ronald Reagan’s
victory) and in 1994 (with the Republican take
over of Congress). And he believes it can happen
again – if conservatives are willing to do the
work and, most importantly, stop being the GOP’s
doormats. The next victory won’t happen
overnight and it may actually take several years.
But if conservatives stick to the goal (which is
still in development), they will succeed. Again.
But
can they do it themselves? I’m not so sure.
Because on the other side of the GOP tent is
another group of folks who are just as fed up with
the big government types running the show. They
are the libertarians. And they are looking to
build a new “third force” themselves. But some
of them think it will require leaving the GOP for
good. And joining the Democrats. I’ll look at
the “liberaltarians” in the next issue.
--
April 2, 2007
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