Richard Viguerie whines about Bushco

I'm amused by this article I found linked at the Huffington Post from the Washington Post called Bush's Base Betrayal where in direct market mail guru Richard Viguerie complains about corrupt Republicans who aren't real conservatives. There are indeed some complaints that the right has that are the same as ours: incompetent handling of Katrina disaster, the Dubai ports deal, the bowing to corporate masters, the legal and illegal bribery (Bush buying congress's support by never vetoing a spending bill; aka the Bridge to Nowhere) as well as the illegal bribes (Randy "Duke" Cunningham).

This article is basically a threat to errant Republicans that their voters may stay home and not give money:

The current record of Washington Republicans is so bad that, without a drastic change in direction, millions of conservatives will again stay home this November.

And maybe they should. Conservatives are beginning to realize that nothing will change until there's a change in the GOP leadership. If congressional Republicans win this fall, they will see themselves as vindicated, and nothing will get better.

and this too:

At the very least, conservatives must stop funding the Republican National Committee and other party groups. (Let Big Business take care of that!) Instead, conservatives should dedicate their money and volunteer efforts toward conservative groups and conservative candidates. They should redirect their anger into building a third force -- not a third party, but a movement independent of any party. They should lay the groundwork for a rebirth of the conservative movement and for the 2008 campaign, when, perhaps, a new generation of conservative leaders will step forward.

Wow, talk about the huge irony of "letting Big Business" fund the GOP (well, then they'll be beholden to the corporations, Richard... what you need is real campaing finance reform and publically funded elections, which Viguerie opposes).

In some respects Viguerie sounds like a lot of frustrated people on the left, who are disgusted with the Democratic Party we currently have. Like Viguerie though, I personally also believe we're best off working within the Democratic Party. It's interesting, though, that despite all the advantages of money, right wing media, a very successful grassroots and GOTV movement, these people still feel betrayed by the conservatives they got elected. Are we on the left going to suffer a similar fate when we regain power?