Greg Corombos of Radio America and Jim Geraghty of National Review are pleased to see the White House get called out for not paying women on an equal level with men on the same day President Obama called such actions in private sector unacceptable. They also react to Brandeis University rescinding an honorary degree for a prominent female critic of Islam, who was brutalized for years by radicals, because her views don’t conform to the school’s core principles. And they’re disgusted that President Obama will head to a Democratic fundraiser right after eulogizing those killed at Ft. Hood.
The Roadmap to Conservative Control
Longtime conservative activist Richard Viguerie says despite a century of conservatives mostly being in the backseat of the Republican Party, they can regain control of the party and the key levers of power in the next two election cycles if they take advantage of the opportunity.
A key tactic in that plan could well be the conservative embrace of Libertarians, including a slot on the national ticket for Kentucky Sen. Rand Paul.
Viguerie is the pioneer of direct mail political marketing and still runs his American Target Advertising firm. He is also chairman of ConservativeHQ.com and author of the new book, “Takeover: The 100-Year War for the Soul of the GOP and How Conservatives Can Finally Win It.”
In his book, Viguerie believes the GOP is ripe for big pickups this year and possibly in 2016, but he says the only way to take advantage of the opportunity is by having the right candidates on the ballot.
“I paraphrase James Carville from 1992, who said over and over and over to Democrats, ‘It’s the economy, stupid. It’s the economy, stupid.’ So my paraphrase of that to conservatives, particularly, tea party conservatives, is ‘It’s the primaries, stupid. It’s the primaries,'” he said.
“We can see that a wave is building out there that is going to sweep a lot of Democrats out of office and it could be a wave of tsunami proportions. But if all that happens is when this wave sweeps Democrats out in this election, if it just brings in more big government Republicans … we will have wasted the opportunity of a lifetime,” said Viguerie, who noted candidates can still file in many federal, state and local races around the country.
But while Viguerie says conservatives can accomplish their goals in short order, they need to approach the situation in the right way in order to succeed. Viguerie claims winning voters to your side essentially requires the same process as any good marketing campaign. His firm follows an approach known as Viguerie’s Four Horsemen, which highlights the marketing tenets of position, differentiation, benefits and brand.
“The position is nothing more than a hole in the marketplace. What hole in the marketplace can you occupy? Differentiation is what you do publicly to differentiate yourself from everybody else out there. The third is benefit. What benefit do you bring to the voters if they vote for you. Brand is a culmination of the first three. It’s what makes you singular, what makes you unique,” said Viguerie.
But for any marketing message to be effective, it has to be delivered effectively. Viguerie admits that in the wake of Ronald Reagan, conservatives have struggled to find people who can articulate their vision well.
“It’s been a mystery as to why for the last 50 years that I’ve been involved in politics at the national level, why conservatives have had such few leaders. We’ve had some spokesmen but very leaders other than Barry Goldwater and Ronald Reagan and a few others. For whatever reason, things are changing now in recent years, in large extent due to the arrival of the tea party. I think our future rests heavily on the shoulders of the tea party,” said Viguerie.
Viguerie believes Republicans cannot win national elections against Democrats only on the traditional Republican base issues of the economy, national defense and social conservatism. He says tea party activists can take the movement to the “next level” and attract more voters than the party has in the past.
Within that movement, Viguerie sees Senators Marco Rubio, Ted Cruz, Rand Paul and Mike Lee as very effective spokesmen for conservatism. He believes Governors Rick Perry, Scott Walker and Mike Pence have the same ability to explain that vision from the state level.
But what message actually unifies conservatives? With different factions of the GOP at odds over the U.S. role in the world, others debating whether defending traditional marriage is still a winning issue and all sorts of economic visions being suggested, what exactly brings them all together? Viguerie says it’s time to welcome Libertarians to the fight.
“Recently the Libertarians have been growing in strength and we see that represented best politically by Ron Paul and now his son, Rand Paul. I think it’s time for conservatives to reach out to Libertarians and see if we can’t reach some common ground,” he said.
That common ground, according to Viguerie, may well be a plum spot on the 2016 GOP ticket for Sen. Paul.
“I think that it’s entirely possible that Rand Paul will be on the Republican ticket, either as president or vice president in 2016. If you bring the three legs of the Reagan coalition together, plus the tea party and then are able to combine it with the LIbertarians, you’ve got almost an unbeatable coalition for the 2016 election,” said Viguerie.
The Fight for the GOP Soul
Limited government conservatives have battled big government Republicans for control of the party for more than a century, and after losing most of the internal battles conservatives need to control the party and win elections soon if the nation is to be saved.
That’s the contention laid out by conservative icon Richard Viguerie in his new book, “Takeover: The 100-Year War for the Soul of the GOP and How Conservatives Can Finally Win It.” Viguerie changed the political marketing landscape forever by pioneering direct mail for political purposes. He is now the chairman of ConservativeHQ.com.
Viguerie minces few words in his book or in his analysis. When asked to explain the difference between conservatives and the GOP establishment, Viguerie’s answer landed nowhere near conventional wisdom.
He claims that despite the posturing and rhetoric we see from Republican Party leaders, there’s actually a wider gulf between the GOP leadership and grassroots conservatives than between the establishment Republicans and Democrats.
“There’s not a great deal of difference between an establishment Republican, a big government Republican, and a Democrat. They both believe in growing government. Democrats believe in growing government faster than the establishment Republicans. People like John Boehner, Eric Cantor, Mitch McConnell, George Bush, Karl Rove all have been significantly involved in significantly growing government,” said Viguerie. “The principled, limited government, constitutional conservatives believe in reducing significantly the size of government.”
Viguerie asserts the ongoing battle for control of the GOP started in 1912, when Theodore Roosevelt challenged Republican President William Howard Taft and split the vote in a way that allowed progressive Democrat Woodrow Wilson to win the White House with less than 42 percent of the vote.
“Conservatives have been battling that wing of the party ever since but they haven’t known that they have done it and you’re likely to lose any war you don’t know you’re engaged in,” said Viguerie.
According to Viguerie, other Republicans of that era, such as William Howard Taft and later Calvin Coolidge, were limited government conservatives, but he says Theodore Roosevelt altered the GOP outlook on the role of government permanently.
“The establishment of the Republican Party bought into the progressive ideas of growing government, spending more, taxing more, regulating more. They would talk a different game to the grassroots, but as they governed, they governed in cooperation with the Democrats to grow government,” said Viguerie. “For the last 100-plus years, the Republican establishment is much more comfortable with growing government than they are keeping government the size it is much less reducing it.”
While Viguerie is passionate about his cause, he freely admits that conservatives have mostly lost the battle for the GOP over the past century. He says with the exceptions of Ronald Reagan’s two landslide wins, the 1994 Republican Revolution and the 2010 tea party uprising, the establishment has dominated the Republican Party. And he says the results are devastating.
“We’re about to lose our country. We have massive debt. We’re engaged in one no-win war after the other. America is more divided and without strong leadership than anytime in our country’s history. We’re in very perilous times because we’ve not had good constitutional leaders for a long time,” he said.
Viguerie accuses Republican leaders of lacking backbone for tough fights against Democrats and for simply coming to accept the growth of government. He also believes too many are making the wrong decisions in a futile attempt to be liked by the press.
“They certainly want to please the mainstream media. The mainstream media is advocating bigger government and the reduction of liberty and freedom. The effect has been growing government of any number of reasons, but we can say for certain they do not believe in increasing liberty for the citizens of this country,” said Viguerie.
Despite that gloomy assessment of politics past and present, Viguerie says he he very bullish on conservatives rising soon and rescuing the U.S. from its present course.
“A lot of conservatives are discouraged now but they should not be. I think within three years conservatives can take over the Republican Party and govern America. I was there after (Arizona Sen. Barry) Goldwater’s loss in 1964 and after (President Richard) Nixon’s resignation in 1974, when it was darkness for conservatives of a biblical proportion,” said Viguerie.
“We have assets that we didn’t have back in those days. we didn’t have talk radio, the internet, cable television. We didn’t have people like Rand Paul, Ted Cruz, Mike Lee and others leading us out there like Scott Walker and Mike Pence. This is a very exciting time for us. I’m very excited about the future,” he said.
Three Martini Lunch 4/8/14
Greg Corombos of Radio America and Jim Geraghty of National Review are cautiously optimistic about new polls showing Florida Gov. Rick Scott slightly ahead of Charlie Crist and another showing Scott Brown leading Jeanne Shaheen in the New Hampshire U.S. Senate race. And they groan as a new government report exposes tens of billions of dollars in taxpayer dollars being spent on redundant programs.
Supremes Stay Out of Religious Freedom Case
The U.S. Supreme Court Monday refused to hear the appeal of a New Mexico photographer sued by a homosexual couple after she refused to take pictures at their commitment ceremony because of her religious convictions.
The case centered on Elaine and Jonathan Huguenin and their business, Elane Photgraphy. In 2006, they refused to work at the commitment ceremony of Vanessa Willock and Misti Collinsworth. The lesbian couple was able to find another photographer but still filed a discrimination grievance against Elane Photography with the New Mexico Human Rights Commission.
The Huguenins lost at every level of the court fight, and Monday that defeat became final. Attorney Jordan Lorence of the Alliance Defending Freedom (ADF) represented Elane Photography in the case. He says the court’s decision not to hear the case is disappointing but he sees a silver lining.
“This is not the same thing as the court summarily affirming the decision below. All that means is that the Supreme Court decided not to hear the case. They did mull this over for three extra times at their conference, which is encouraging in a slight way that it means the justices took this case seriously, gave it a lot of extra consideration but decided, ultimately, not to hear the case,” said Lorence.
“There will be other cases coming through the pipeline. Alliance Defending Freedom already has some in the pipeline, the cake baker in Colorado, the florist in Washington state,” said Lorence.” This does not set a nationwide precedent. And whether people can be forced to create expression that they don’t agree with or be punished by the government, that is still a general constitutional principle that ADF will be enforcing and arguing in courts around the land.”
The court never offers an explanation for refusing to hear a case and Lorence says he cannot be certain why his clients won’t get a hearing at the highest court in the land. However, he says the court’s history suggests it’s waiting for the issue to get bigger before wading into this aspect of the debate over the proper definition of marriage.
“They do have a general habit of waiting for an issue to percolate in the lower courts and not necessarily take the first one but take the third or the fourth one or something like that,” said Lorence. “Those who support redefining marriage to include same-sex couples may take the wrong signal from this and be emboldened to punish more employers or professionals or small business owners or graduate students or others for their views that marriage is only for one man and one woman.”
Lorence admits court decisions all across America have trended in favor of same-sex marriage and similar causes in recent months. He says regardless of how the nation may be trending on the larger issue of marriage, the rights of his clients and others to hold their beliefs should be an issue all Americans respect.
“I and many other Americans believe that the best public policy and social values to promote and maximize human flourishing is to define marriage as one man and one woman. Obviously, there is a growing number of people that disagree with that. But what I hope we all as American can agree on is that people should not be censored or punished or held up to public humiliation for having a view that is not supported by this new ascending orthodoxy,” said Lorence, who also fears a very slippery slope in the wake of the frustrations endured by his clients and other business leaders who express support for traditional marriage.
“Americans need to stand up and just say, ‘This has gone too far, that we can have reasonable debates without demonizing and ostracizing the losers of the debate or people that are on a side that the courts and others are not supporting right now,'” said Lorence.
“I had a case in Maine, where a social worker spoke out in a political campaign in support of marriage. He had complaints filed that he should lose his professional license as a social worker because of his position on marriage. I think the imagination of those zealots on the other side knows no boundaries and they will be pushing this to ostracize and marginalize people as much as possible,” he said.
“The Mozilla CEO case is another example of it, even though it wasn’t (a legal case). We see increasing effort to hound people out of public life and put them into exile on the outskirts of society. As Americans we need to be standing up and saying, ‘This is not what our first amendment allows people to do,'” said Lorence.
So what happens for Elane Photography now that its loss in the lower courts officially stands? Lorence says Elaine and Jonathan Huguenin are still trying to figure that out.
“They are just every day Americans who were living their lives and making decisions to the best of their ability to make money and also to protect their conscience. This case has obviously shoved them into the limelight. How they go about their business now they are assessing. Obviously they’re going to be a target for others who want to humiliate them or make them take pictures that they don’t want to because of this court order,” said Lorence.
“They’re just assessing right now what next steps they should do and grieving over the fact that the Supreme Court unfortunately step in to vindicate their first amendment rights,” he said.
Three Martini Lunch 4/7/14
Greg Corombos of Radio America and Jim Geraghty of National Review are pleased to see Democratic Arkansas Sen. Mark Pryor struggling to defend Obamacare, defending Obama’s enrollment numbers while challenging statistics on canceled policies and accusing Republicans or having no solutions. They also shake their heads as Jeb Bush says illegal immigration is an act of love and not a felony. And they react to news that Jesse Jackson, Jr. is in a new prison after being put in solitary confinement in his first facility.
Sanctioned for Backing the Unborn, Traditional Marriage?
A Russian lawmaker known for her outspoken support for traditional marriage and the unborn is among the officials listed in new U.S. sanctions against individuals for their alleged contribution to Russia’s unlawful grab of Ukrainian territory.
Weeks ago, President Obama announced sanctioned aimed at several individuals for their alleged roles in facilitating Russia’s actions. But Yelena Mizulina’s seems out of place on the list. Mizulina is chairwoman of the Russian Duma’s Committee on Family, Women and Children’s Affairs.
She was also the lead sponsor of legislation banning Americans from adopting Russian orphans, fearing the children could suffer harm if adopted by homosexual partners.
In the documents outlining the sanctions, the allegations against Mizulina simply cite “her status as a State Duma Deputy.”
“Yelena Mizulina, as far as I know, has nothing to do with the controversy over the Crimea. She did sponsor a bill to make it easier for residents of the Crimea to have Russian citizenship. That was before the Crimea was incorporated into Russia. Other than that, (she had) absolutely nothing to do with the Crimea,” said Don Feder, communications director for the World Congress of Families, which promotes traditional values around the globe.
“This is payback. This is payback for Russian restrictions on abortion. It’s payback for the child protection law. It’s payback for all the pro-family initiatives that the Russian people have undertaken in the last few years,” said Feder.
Feder says this story is another alarming example of who is calling the shots for the Obama administration.
“This administration is clearly controlled by the gay lobby. Whatever organized homosexuals want, the administration gives them. It was about a year or year-and-a-half ago that Obama announced that promoting gay rights abroad would be a major U.S. foreign policy initiative. You have to shake your head in wonder,” he said. “In fact, U.S. ambassadors have been ordered to march in gay pride parades all over the world, wherever they’re held.”
It’s a major shift in emphasis for Obama, who only embraced gay marriage publicly two years ago. Feder says it was a pragmatic move by the administration and not the result of any deep soul-searching.
“I think a lot of it has to do with funding. Remember that when Obama ran for president in 2008, he said while he was sympathetic to gay rights, he believed that marriage was between a man and a woman. Then at the beginning of 2012, at the beginning of his re-election campaign, suddenly he decided that he was in favor of gay marriage. What changed?” said Feder.
“Obviously nothing, it was expediency. He was told by certain gay donors if he didn’t begin supporting gay marriage, they would withhold their donations. On that basis, Obama decided to have this very convenient change of heart. I think that supporting homosexual marriage…has always been Obama’s position. I think he adopted the one man-one woman (position) in 2008 as a matter of expediency. So part of it is Obama’s natural philosophical inclination on social issues and part of it is expediency,” said Feder.
According to Feder, the impact of the sanctions will be minimal. He says they will restrict Mizulina’s travel but will not impact her legislative work at all. In addition, he says any intended message sent through these sanctions will fall on deaf ears with Russian President Vladimir Putin.
“I think Putin feels the sanctions are a joke. It gives [Obama} an opportunity to say to the people who are pressuring him t do more, ‘Look, I have this list of people that I’ve applied sanctions to,'” said Feder.
“It’s sort of like his famous red line. He’ll say, ‘I’ve drawn a red line and if Syria crosses the red line there are going to be serious consequences.’ So Syria crosses the red line and the serious consequences are Obama drawing another red line. I don’t think Putin takes any of it seriously. In fact, I don’t think he takes our president seriously,” said Feder.
But what about Mizulina’s impact on Americans’ efforts to adopt Russian orphans? Many Americans on all sides of the gay marriage and gay adoption debates were frustrated by Russia putting a halt to them, even for traditionally married couples. Feder wholeheartedly endorses Mizulina’s actions.
“I think her position is absolutely right. The Russians are very traditional people. They have a strong religious orientation. They haven’t gotten caught up in the whole politically correct thing that has captured so many people in this country, that homosexuality is essentially the same as heterosexuality, that it’s genetically determined and what’s called discrimination against gays is the same as discrimination against a racial minority,” said Feder.
“The Russian people don’t feel that way. They don’t want to see Russian children placed with homosexuals. Frankly, I don’t blame them,” he said.
Three Martini Lunch 4/4/14
Greg Corombos of Radio America and Jim Geraghty of National Review are stunned but pleased to learn all major networks refused to give President Obama a prime time slot to announce Obamacare enrollment figures. They also sigh as the latest jobs numbers show the recovery is still very weak. And they have fun without outgoing Virginia Rep. Jim Moran complaining that members of Congress and underpaid.
No Guns = More Killing on Bases
Wednesday’s deadly shooting at Ft. Hood leaves several grieving families, a community deeply wounded for the second time in recent years and Washington once again debating whether military personnel ought to be able to carry guns while on base.
However, opposition from the Obama administration and disinterest from a Congress bracing for midterm elections mean nothing is likely to change soon.
After last September’s murders at the Washington Navy Yard, Texas Rep. Steve Stockman introduced the Safe Military Bases Act. He says Wednesday’s killings are just further proof the men and women tasked with defending our nation should be able to arm themselves on the job.
“They’re trained. They’re experienced, and we trust them to fend off evildoers and other people trying to attack our nation. This would reinstate that right to carry a weapon,” said Stockman about his legislation.
“For 20 years, they lost that right. Since those 20 years have ensued, we’ve had killings on the base. I can assure you, in Texas, had this individual [gone] out in a public area and tried to do that, there would have been many Texans which would have returned fire.”
Service members had that freedom until a 1992 Department of Defense rules change. It was initiated in the George H.W. Bush administration and took effect in the early weeks of the Clinton administration.
“The comments I’m hearing from people that supported that was primarily that (the soldiers) are young people and they shouldn’t have guns on base. The ironic thing is since we have the ban in place, we’ve had more deaths because people see it as a soft target and they want to make a statement because Ft. Hood is one of the largest bases in the nation. It’s a soft target and easy to shoot because everybody’s disarmed,” said Stockman.
Stockman says he is finding more members interested in co-sponsoring his legislation following Wednesday’s killings, but he confesses getting the Obama administration on board will be virtually impossible.
“This administration is always for more gun control. I don’t think there’s a situation in which he [thinks] that more gun control is bad. Obama, I think, clearly articulates that nobody would have a weapon. The only people who would have weapons is the IRS agents and people like that,” said Stockman.
Following the 2009 Ft. Hood shootings, Army Chief of Staff Gen. Ray Odierno told the Senate Armed Services Committee that he did not favor lifting the ban on arming soldiers while on base.
“I believe that we have our military police and others that are armed and I believe that’s appropriate. I think I believe that allows us the level of protection necessary,” said Odierno under questioning from South Carolina Sen. Lindsey Graham, who strongly suggested he wanted to reverse the ban.
Stockman says Odierno’s response is a political statement and may not even reflect his true feelings, much less the members of our military. The congressman says even he didn’t fully understand that until fellow Texas Rep. Pete Olson, a U.S. Navy veteran, briefed him on why presidential appointees in the military take public positions that may come as a surprise.
“I brought this very issue up to him. He said, ‘Steve, he works for the commander-in-chief. He’s not going to contradict what the commander-in-chief says. He’s being a good soldier and restating the policy.’ I think if you listen to him in that clip, he really is very much demure in what he’s saying. It’s not an emphatic statement. It’s more almost factual as opposed to his own opinion,” said Stockman.
But the congressman also points out that the Obama administration is not the only hurdle. He says election year politics also make this an issue many members don’t want to touch.
“I think in this mode of Congress, in which we’re now turning to elections, I don’t think that will become a paramount issue. But I think as time goes on and more people are injured, this is going to seem more like a rational thought. They try to demonize it as irrational but it actually is very rational,” said Stockman, just moments after the House of Representatives held a moment of silence on Thursday.
“When we walked out of the building just now. I just voted. There were three people there with fully automatic weapons that could kill a lot of people. If we as congressmen expect to be protected, I would think that we should allow our soldiers no less but to allow them to protect themselves,” said Stockman.
While political leaders in Washington may be hesitant to take up the issue, Stockman says the service members that he speaks with are very clear on what they want.
“Most of them say to me, ‘Please don’t use my name. I don’t want to get in trouble, but…’ and then they go on to say, ‘This is crazy. Please let us have the right to defend ourselves. I think that the ones that were lost yesterday, I wish they had the right to protect themselves,” said Stockman.
Three Martini Lunch 4/3/14
Greg Corombos of Radio America and Jim Geraghty of National Review are surprised to see former White House Press Secretary Robert Gibbs predict the employer mandate in Obamacare will never take effect. They also discuss revelations that over 35,000 North Carolina voters may also have voted in another state in 2012. And they enjoy Sarah Palin’s appearance on The Tonight Show.