Conservative Movement ‘Will Rise Again,’

Conservative Movement ‘Will Rise Again,’ Veteran Activist Pledges


Wednesday, November 05, 2008
By Pete Winn, Senior Writer/Editor




A 1980s meeting of President Ronald Reagan and Phyllis Schlafly at the White House. (Photo courtesy of the Eagle Forum Archives)(CNSNews.com) - Phyllis Schlafly was around for the beginning of the modern conservative movement. Now, in the aftermath of yesterday’s sea change election, the president of Eagle Forum and veteran conservative activist says the movement needs to start over again – from the beginning.

“The conservative movement will rise again, just as it re-rose in 1964 and nominated a little-known senator named Barry Goldwater, and rose again with the nomination and election of Ronald Reagan in 1980, and then, after (Bill) Clinton’s victory rose again and elected a big majority of Republican congressmen in 1994,” Schlafly told CNSNews.com in an interview.

1994 was the year Newt Gingrich and others developed the Contract with America, which inspired the election of a class of conservative Republicans, who took control of Congress.

“The conservative movement knows how to rise from the ashes, and we need to pick up the pieces of the movement, which was so badly dismantled and put in disarray by the George W. Bush administration. But we can do it. And we’ve got to get started immediately,” she said.

Schlafly lays the blame for Tuesday’s defeat of the McCain-Palin ticket – and a decline in the fortunes of the conservative movement – at the feet of the Bush administration.

“The disarray of the conservative movement is the fault of George W. Bush and his advisor Karl Rove,” Schlafly said. “I guess it turned out that he was not a conservative after all. He was a big government, big spending, globalist, ‘New World Order’-type of Republican.

Among other things, the long-time conservative leader said, the financial bailout bordered on socialism.

“A lot of people stuck with him beyond the time that they should have, when it became apparent that he did not espouse real conservative principles,” Schlafly said.

Schlafly rejected any suggestion that Alaska Gov. Sarah Palin split either the GOP or the conservative movement.

“Sarah Palin is certainly a rising star – she was a breath of fresh air, and a lot of excitement to the conservative movement. I think she is a genuine conservative,” Schlafly added.

“I think that most of us are interested in rebuilding the conservative movement. She will have a role to play in that,” she said. “If we want to split off anybody (from the GOP) I would say that it is the multinationals who have given us this economic disaster, and who told us that globalism is the wave of the future. If you want to split them off, that’s OK with me.

“But I think we’re going to be looking for new leaders who express conservatism across the board – whether its sovereignty, limited spending, limited government, cuts in spending, cuts in taxes, the social issues – to simply reject these groups who are trying to muscle into the driver’s seat of the Republican Party, such as the multinationals with their ‘free-trade globalism’ agenda,” Schlafly added.

Does anybody come to mind?

“No,” she said, laughing, then adding, “We have about 30 very good members of Congress who are destined to become good leaders.”

Schlafly expressed confidence that the movement she had a hand in building will come back. But she’s no Pollyanna.

“Of course, I’m optimistic. I’m a Ronald Reagan optimist. But there’s a big job to do, and a lot of it is in the public schools, because so many people have been taught the wrong things about America and about politics and about what’s important in life and how things are done in the American constitutional system. I think we’re going to have to rebuild from the grassroots up,” she said.







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RiverKing at 08:49 AM - November 06, 2008
I take issue with Ms Schlafly blaming our recent defeat entirely on George W Bush and the liberal "education" of a couple of generations. I believe the largest reason for our defeat is the liberal bias of most "news" organizations and the blanket of silence surrounding conservatives. We know we're here and what we mutually believe but only because of the Internet, talk radio, and a very limited number of other sources.

floridaconservative at 09:00 PM - November 05, 2008
I am interested in knowing if there is a Conservative Party being started in Florida?

websmith at 06:00 PM - November 05, 2008
Republicans need to get back to the concept of Republicanism. This country was formed as a constitutional republic that placed individual rights and liberties above all including the will of the majority. What came out of the formation, the Constitution, if followed, would have prevented most of the problems that we are facing today. A republic is a nation of laws that are implemented to protect the rights of the individual, not a nation of regulations that try to run business. http://ewebsmith.com/bus/wrongbusiness.html

ronricesr@hotmail.com at 05:37 PM - November 05, 2008
It has been my privilege to meet many evangelicals, and main line Christians during the last 30 years. Both are effective as God' children. I have enjoyed two Sunday School classes in Plains, GA the last 10 years, and I voted for Regan in 1984. My first vote went to Goldwater in 1964, my first Democratic vote went to Carter in 1976. Yes, Phyllis, and many wonderful men and women like her, will help to restore a strong Christian core to our culture. Let's be mindful of people of all ages as we structure our story, the wonderful story of our Lord. Seniors, we honor....middle age adults, we respect, and young people under 30 we nurture their passions, passions that seek a country that is less cunning, and condescending to their generation. In Philadelphia, 1955, Percy Crawford has a successful ministry...."YOUTH ON THE MARCH". He was keenly aware of the importance to nurture youth in the 1950's.

MrBill at 02:59 PM - November 05, 2008
I try not to be the pessimist however that sounds like an impossible task beginning with the "reeducation" of the teaching community and their unions. How would you even begin and what could motivate such changes?