Bush's ghost-at-the-feast status is hardly a sign that the Republicans have abandoned the recipe that won them consecutive terms in the Oval Office. Indeed, last night's official unveiling of Sarah Palin as their presumptive veep proved that the only change they're offering is savvier packaging. In Gov. Palin, the GOP has its new Bush, same as the old Bush, but more polished, more presentable, more user-friendly than the original ever was -- and, they hope, still fresh and unencumbered enough to run as a "maverick" against the legacy of Dubya 1.0's failure
http://www.salon.com/opinion/feature/2008/09/05/palin_bush/index.htmlhttp://www.gopac.org/alumni/?lk=6358988-6358988-0-33279...This info came to me via email from Gloria A. Totten, Progressive Majority
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Salon's article kinda ties into this one posted yesterday:
GOPAC is the leading candidate recruitment and training operation for the conservative right - and our direct competitor when it comes to who controls government.
GOPAC was founded in 1978 by conservatives who knew they were going to have to work outside the Republican Party to take it over. They knew they would have to recruit their own kind to run to wrest control of government from the Democrats. They knew they needed a long-term plan to build their "farm team".
They went to work and Newt Gingrich took over the organization in the 1980s. You see, Gingrich wasn't satisfied with the election of Ronald Reagan. He wanted to see conservatives in control at the local, state AND national levels - even if it took a generation. Under Gingrich's leadership, GOPAC stepped up its candidate recruitment efforts, sought out "movement conservatives" and taught them how to run campaigns and talk about issues in a way that galvanized the far right base while not completely alienating moderate voters.
It worked. During the next 20 years, they took over the majority of state legislatures and governors. They singlehandedly led the "Republican Revolution" that took over Congress in 1994. They elected George W. Bush.
And, yesterday, one of their own accepted the Republican nomination for vice president of the United States.
If you're a conservative, that's how you go from being mayor of a small town to governor to the very top of the ticket.
Don't think for a moment, despite Democratic victories in 2006 and a good climate for 2008, that they are finished.
Today, GOPAC is the sixth largest national political organization in the country. It is three times larger and 26 years older than Progressive Majority.
http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=show_mesg&forum=132&topic_id=6931877&mesg_id=6931877