After the defeat of the immigration reform bill and a string of Supreme Court rulings in their favor, conservatives are celebrating what may be their best week since the demoralizing loss of Congress to Democrats last November.
The once-dispirited GOP base is suddenly galvanized, thanks in part to widespread outrage over Democratic proposals to rein in conservative talk radio. And although the long-term political environment remains challenging for Republicans – the immigration defeat may have doomed President Bush’s domestic agenda – many party members see a glimmer of hope in the historically low approval ratings of the Democratic Congress.
Amy Isaacs, national director of Americans for Democratic Action, a liberal advocacy group, acknowledged that conservatives are on a roll.
“I don’t blame them if they do rejoice a little bit this week – I would too,” she said. “It’s been a banner week for them.”
Isaacs called this week’s batch of Supreme Court rulings “a disaster.” The high court weakened campaign finance laws, strengthened Bush’s faith-based initiative and embraced a colorblind system of public school enrollment.
Meanwhile, rallied by talk radio, conservatives mounted a massive lobbying campaign to scuttle an immigration bill that would have granted legal status to illegal immigrants.
“Big government was insulting its citizens in the immigration debate, telling them they didn’t know what was in the bill, calling them racists, bigots and nativists, when in fact citizens knew more about the contents of this legislation than many of the Senators voting on it,” said radio talk show host Rush Limbaugh, one of the most influential conservatives in America.
Seeking to capitalize on their momentum, conservatives quickly turned their attention to heading off Democratic proposals to revive the Fairness Doctrine, which would force AM radio stations, currently dominated by conservative talk show hosts, to air liberal political views. The House voted overwhelmingly Thursday to block the Democratic move.
“The Fairness Doctrine question and the Supreme Court decisions are great victories for First Amendment advocates,” said David Keene, chairman of the American Conservative Union. “The immigration victory is a demonstration of what grassroots power can do.”
He added: “The whole week’s accomplishments really give a shot of adrenaline to the conservative movement.”
Lee Edwards of the Heritage Foundation agreed.
“Even when things seemed to be going bad for conservatism, there were those conservatives who stuck to their principles, who believedthat they should conduct policy based upon certain basic principles,” said Edwards, a historian of the conservative movement. “And that has paid off this week.”
