PrintOctober 6, 2007
GOP To Go "Back to the Future?"
Everyone agrees that the Republican party is in trouble. Now a group of Reagan-era officials are preparing to revive the Gipper's old political organization to try and fix it:
Fed up with neocons, theocons and convict cons, a group of former aides to Ronald Reagan want to reanimate the Republican Party by reviving the organization that brought Reagan to power.(Note: Richard Allen was National Security Advisor to Reagan and not AG)
The revitalized Citizens For The Republic -- or CFTR -- has already secured $17 million in solid financial commitments, according to an official involved in raising money for the organization.
Craig Shirley, a Republican strategist and historian, has agreed to serve as chairman of the board. Others who will participate or who have agreed to raise money are Paul Laxalt, the former Nevada Senator and close Reagan friend; former Reagan attorney general Richard Allen; former House Speaker Newt Gingrich, and conservative activists Brent Bozell and Gary Bauer.
CFTR believes that ""the conditions of the party today are almost identical to what they were in 1977." The group hasn't announced any specific plans on how they hope to accomplish the revitalization but they plan on launching before the primaries next year.
With $17 million - and probably more on the way - the CFTR may be able to throw their weight behind a specific candidate in the primaries. It will be interesting to see what, if any impact, they will have on the race as well as how they intend to revamp the Republican party to reflect Reaganesque principles.
