Viguerie at 90: Still Marching Toward the Sound of the Cannons

(Chuck Muth) – Long before Al Gore invented the Internet, the clerk of the U.S. House of Representatives maintained a ledger containing the names and addresses of donors to presidential campaigns that was available to the public.

In 1965, Richard Viguerie went to the clerk’s office and hand-copied the names and addresses of 12,500 people who gave $50 or more to Barry Goldwater’s 1964 campaign.

He then used that list to build a conservative fundraising company known today as American Target Advertising.

Over the ensuing years, Richard has mailed out BILLIONS of fundraising letters that have raised BILLIONS of dollars for conservative candidates and organizations.

He is a legend in the conservative movement, and I was honored to be invited to his 90^th birthday party in Virginia – just outside DC – Saturday night.  Kellyanne Conway delivered the keynote remarks.

The soiree was like attending a high school reunion with some of the most accomplished conservative leaders from all over the country.  So great to catch up with so many I got to know when I was working for the American Conservative Union (ACU) 20 years ago.

The coolest part was being seated next to a wonderful young 20-year-old student from Hillsdale College who was involved in putting together the tribute video shown at the dinner.

That’s a 70-year spread from Richard to the new generation of conservatives inspired by his leadership.  So all is NOT lost.  We just have to keep fighting and pass the torch.

I’ll have more on my trip when I get back tomorrow.  But two quick notes…

1.)  I ran into a number of folks who were with ACU during my tenure there who still have their fingers on the pulse of what’s happening at this longtime conservative powerhouse organization.

And it’s not pretty.

The organization will be holding a big fundraising event in Las Vegas next month and I’ll be sharing some of the ugly details of the organization’s decline – and I’m not just talking about the sex stuff.

2.)  The Nevada Republican Central Committee committed political suicide Saturday in Winnemucca.  It voted to hold its presidential “caucus” on February 8, two days after the state-run presidential primary.

This is a 180 reversal of Chairman Michael McDonald’s position in 2015, when he tweeted: “primaries increase participation. I favor the primary.”

The party also approved a resolution prohibiting Republican presidential candidates who participate in the February 6 primary from appearing on the February 8 caucus ballot – which will cost each candidate $55,000 (it’ll be free to get your name on the primary ballot).

And this sets up the potential for, say, Donald Trump’s name not appearing on the primary ballot and Ron DeSantis’ name not appearing on the caucus ballot. Ditto the other Republican candidates currently in the race.

Nah, that’s not gonna confuse Republican voters in Nevada.

The Nevada Republican Party has a political death wish.  The majority of Central Committee members are addicted to stupidity.  And as we know, addicts aren’t likely to change their ways until they hit rock bottom.

That could occur in early February.

More upon my return.  Hasta la vista, baby.

FAMOUS LAST WORDS

“Trump hates rigged elections, except when he’s doing the rigging, like he’s doing in Nevada.” – Ken Cuccinelli, Never Back Down PAC

Mr. Muth is president of Citizen Outreach, publisher of Nevada News & Views, and founder of CampaignDoctor.com.  You can sign up for his conservative, Nevada-focused e-newsletter at MuthsTruths.com.  His views are his own.