Why will the G.O.P. become more, not less, extreme?

Conservative leader Richard Viguerie on afternoon conference call: "The number one mistake conservatives made is we became an appendage of the Republican Party."

"Going forward, I think you're going to see conservatives look to themselves for leadership."

Also called Palin "a major rock star" among the right. He spoke following a gathering of conservative leaders in Virginia. Time

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blatham wrote:
The fracturing of the movement is going to cause problems for people like Limbaugh. They can (they will) trim their sails as Thomas suggests but it will not be at all clear in which direction they're better off trimming towards.

Hey, they can always play it safe by attacking whatever Obama is doing. No need to do constructive things for their own side.

The Rush brand has also become big business. Since he was first syndicated by EFM Media in 1988, his show has generated more than $1 billion in revenue for his networks and stations. Premiere Radio Networks, Clear Channel Communications' programming arm, which took over syndication of The Rush Limbaugh Show in 1998, negotiated in 2001 a record-breaking $285 million contract with Limbaugh to lock him in through 2006. He is Premiere's biggest money-maker, generating between $40 million and $50 million annually in advertising revenue, about 15 percent to 18 percent of the company's total take.

Conservative Leaders Meet, Plan to Battle Obama’s Agenda " With or Without Republicans

There's a strong feeling, Tyrrell said, that social conservatives, free market conservatives, and national security conservatives will all be able to work together.

He also said that "there's a sense that the Republicans on Capitol Hill are freer of wobbly-kneed Republicans than they were before the election."

Regnery said, "The consensus was that this was not a mandate for Democrats, that this country is still center-right. The overriding fear was that the Republican Party does not represent conservatives," and there was a desire to get behind genuinely conservative candidates.

Looking back at the campaign, they felt that John McCain wasn't really a conservative, and that Sarah Palin and Joe the Plumber were the two best things that happened because of the way they connected with people.

It's not just Limbaugh and Hannity

A cabal of conservative leaders convened for a meeting of the minds to plot a way to reinvigorate the Republican brand as Democratic President-elect Barack Obama is being ushered into office.

Conservatives who attended the event believe Obama untruthfully campaigned on traditionally Republican issues, like tax cuts, and that the GOP must regain credibility on key issues, like spending, before they can begin winning again nationally.

“In contrast to all the talk about a mandate that President-elect Barack Obama has, he has nothing of the sort,” said organizer Brent Bozell, president of the Media Research Center. “Why? Because Barack Obama did everything in his power to run on anything but the liberal agenda of the Democratic Party.”

Bozell saw the 2008 election as a decision between a “moderate” and a “far-left” candidate. The moderate lost. Therefore, “the moderate wing of the Republican Party is dead, it is finished,” Bozell said...

Bozell pushed them to consider supporting a “whole new generation of organizations, particularly on the grassroots level” and “massively increasing the fundraising.”

Others demanded that conservatives, rather than moderate Republicans, be appointed to fill leading roles on Capitol Hill.

“Conservative are unhappy, upset even angry with national Republican leaders," said Viguerie. "People feel like they will not get to the promised land unless we get new leadership."

For one thing, projections suggest that this election will drive many
of the remaining Republican moderates out of Congress,
while leaving the hard right in place.