Viguerie: GOP's New Pledge Gets 1 1/2 Cheers

News provided by

Sep 23, 2010, 12:40 ET

MANASSAS, Va., Sept. 23 /PRNewswire-USNewswire/ -- Richard A. Viguerie, Chairman of ConservativeHQ.com, issued the following statement today about the Republicans' Pledge to America document:

"Republican House leaders are to be congratulated on a pretty good 2010 election campaign document.

"The 'Pledge to America' is an improvement on the 1994 'Contract with America' that was little more than promises to vote on poll-tested issues.

"The clear purpose of the 21-page 'Pledge to America' is to help Republicans in the 2010 congressional elections. And to that end it will have some small benefit.

"Of course, it is asking too much of politicians to expect them to put forth meaningful, bold, new ideas weeks before a major election.

"This new promise is mostly about Republicans promising not to do things they relished doing in the last decade.

"But if the GOP does not push hard in the new Congress to return America to small, constitutional government, expect most Republican incumbents to be seriously challenged by Tea Party candidates in 2012.

"Once again, conservatives are in Congressman Mike Pence's debt for insisting that the pledge include references to the life and family issues. How sad that it required pressure from conservatives before Republican leaders, only at the last minute and begrudgingly, added one token line in the preamble about life and family.

"While the U. S. House Republican 2012 'Pledge to America' falls far short of a road map of how we will return America to the vision of our Founders, it is a good first step and will increase Republican votes on November 2nd and help keep the new Congressmen's feet to the fire in 2011."

NOTE TO EDITORS: Richard A. Viguerie pioneered political direct mail and has been called "one of the creators of the modern conservative movement" (The Nation magazine) and one of the "conservatives of the century" (Washington Times). He is the author of Conservatives Betrayed: How George W. Bush and Other Big Government Republicans Hijacked the Conservative Cause.