GOP Warned: Conservatives Ready To Revolt - 'There's A Feeling The Party Isn't Fighting Hard Enough Against Liberalism'

Greg Corombos / WND

Former Republican presidential candidate Gary Bauer says conservatives are tired of being marginalized and taken for granted within the GOP and the party needs to prepare for more Election Day disappointments if it doesn’t produce candidates the base can enthusiastically support.

Bauer sought the Republican presidential nomination in 2000. He previously served as chief domestic policy adviser to President Ronald Reagan and is now president of American Values and chairman of the Campaign for Working Families PAC.

In a Sunday Washington Post story highlighting the agitation of social conservatives toward GOP leaders, Bauer described the difference between the two groups as a “chasm.” He said that divide is felt by far more than the values voters.

“The chasm is not only between the Republican Party establishment and social conservatives but the party establishment and conservatives generally,” Bauer said. “I’m talking almost daily with economic conservatives, conservatives that believe in a strong national defense, those that are pro-life and pro-family. There’s a general feeling that the party just isn’t fighting hard enough against liberalism here in Washington and seems too uncertain with the message and with the themes that the party says it cares about.”

According to Bauer, conservatives are not only looking for proud defenders of the unborn and traditional marriage but Republicans committed to smaller government, less regulation and other kitchen-table issues. He said far too many in the GOP are more interested in racing to the middle than standing firmly on conservative principles.

“On all these issues, all too often, party officials who have been around for awhile tend to muddle the differences between them and the Democratic Party,” he said.

Three of the past four presidential elections show the nation to be very divided politically. Bauer said Republicans cannot afford to take any votes for granted. He said the party needs conservatives to win.

“Whichever side can turn out its core supporters is likely to win not only the elections this November for control of the Senate and the House of Representatives, but they’re likely to go on and win the presidency in 2016,” he said. “If the Republican Party cannot get its most loyal, committed voters – the voters that take most seriously the planks in the Republican platform – they’re going to underperform this November and underperform in 2016.”

Read more at WND:

http://www.wnd.com/2014/08/gop-warned-conservatives-ready-to-revolt/