Richard Viguerie: Bush 41 Criticism Shows McCain Out of Touch

'With Conservatives, McCain is in a hole. He should quit digging.'

MANASSAS, Va., Feb. 19 /PRNewswire-USNewswire/ -- In its efforts to deal with
John McCain's "conservative problem," the McCain campaign is showing how bad
that problem is, Richard A. Viguerie said.

"The latest evidence of that is bringing out George H.W. Bush to criticize
conservatives who have problems with the Senator. Believe it or not, this was
touted by some in the McCain camp as something that would establish the
Senator's conservative bona fides and improve his standing with conservatives.

"Bush 41 is the personification of a Republican Establishment that is out of
touch with conservatives. In 1988, he was elected to continue the policies of
Ronald Reagan - to serve, in effect 'Reagan's third term - yet he repudiated
those policies as fast as he could. He lost his re-election in 1992,
receiving 38% of the vote, because so many conservatives stayed home or voted
for Ross Perot. Is that the kind of example the McCain campaign wants to put
forth?"

Viguerie noted that, in 1992, he wrote a book, Lip Service: George Bush's
30-Year Battle With Conservatives, detailing the elder Bush's longstanding
conflict with the group that is dominant among GOP activists.

"No one who knows anything about grassroots conservatives would think that
George H.W. Bush's testimony would be worth anything to conservatives. Rather
than establish a connection with conservatives, this blunder reconfirms the
fact that McCain doesn't understand them, doesn't understand why they have a
problem with him, and isn't taking the steps he needs to fix his problems.

"With conservatives, John McCain is in a hole. He needs to quit digging."

NOTE TO EDITORS: Richard A. Viguerie pioneered ideological and political
direct mail and has been called "the funding father of the conservative
movement" for his role in helping to build dozens of conservative
organizations. He is the author of Conservatives Betrayed -- How George W.
Bush and Other Big-Government Republicans Hijacked the Conservative Cause
(Bonus Books, 2006).

SOURCE ConservativeHQ.com

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