EDITORrnThomas FlemingrnMANAGING EDITORrnTheodore PappusrnSENIOR EDITOR, BOOKSrnChilton Williamson, Jr.rnASSISTANT EDITORrnMichael WashburnrnART DIRECTORrnAnna Mycek-WodeckirnCONTRIBUTING EDITORSrnHarold O.j. Brown, Katherine Dalton,rnSamuel Francis, George Garrett,rnPaul Gottfried, E. Christian Kopff,rnJ.O. Tate, Clyde WilsonrnCORRESPONDING EDITORSrnBill Kauffman, William Mills,rnJacob Neusner, Momcilo SelicrnEDITORIAL SECRETARYrnLeann DobbsrnPUBLISHERrnAllan C. CarlsonrnPUBLICATION DIRECTORrnGuy C. ReffettrnPRODUCTION SECRETARYrnAnita CandyrnCIRCULATION MANAGERrnCindy LinkrnA publication of The Rockford Institute.rnEditorial and Advertising Olfices;rn934 North Main Street, Rockford, IL 61103.rnEditorial Phone: (815)964-5054.rnAdvertising Phone: (815)964-5813.rnSubscription Department: P.O. Box 800,rnMount Moms,IL6l054. Call 1-800-877-5459.rnU.S.A. Newsstand Distribution by Easteni NewsrnDistributors, Inc., One Media Way, 12406 Rt. 250rnMilan, Ohio 44848-9705rnCopyright © 1997 by The Rockford Institute.rnAll rights reserved.rnChronicles (ISSN 0887-5731) is publishedrnmonthly for $39.00 (foreign subscriptions add $12rnfor surface delivery, $48 for Air Mail) per year byrnThe Rockford Institute, 934 North Mam Street,rnRockford, IL 61103-7061. Preferred periodicalrnpostage paid at Rockford, IL and additional mailingrnoffices. POSTMASTER: Send address changes tornCftronicfes, P.O. Box 800. Mount Morris, IL 61054.rnThe views expressed in Chronicles are thernauthors’ alone and do not necessarily reflectrnthe views of The Rockford Institute or of itsrndirectors. Unsolicited manuscripts cannot bernreturned unless accompanied by a self-addressedrnstamped envelope.rnChroniclesrnVol.21, No, 8 August 1997rnPrinted in the United States of AmericarnPOLEMICS & EXCHANGESrnOn the Christian RightrnMr. Mawyer’s article in the April issuern(“The Future of the Christian Right”) isrnabsolutely correct in its analysis of the illsrnof the Republican Party. The congressionalrnelections were one more indicatorrnof the bedrock traditional values of mostrnAmerican voters. Nevertheless, the GOPrnleadership proved itself to be stronglyrnthough underhandedly liberal in its convictionsrnand thoroughly ashamed of itsrnpro-family supporters. It can fairly bernsurmised that it regarded Bill Clinton’srnvictory as a partial blessing insofar as itrnkept the Buchananite hordes from therncastle keep.rnIt is also true, as Mr. Mawyer pointsrnout, that the “pro-family movement’srnmost visible leaders” betrayed their rankrnand file constituency by supporting Dolernin the first place and then not requiringrnhim to address the issues of burning concernrnto traditionalists: namely, abortion,rnhomosexuals in the military, subsidizedrncultural decay, and national security.rnMr. Mawyer is right: the only moralrncourse of action left to conservatives ofrnconscience is to construct a new party.rnHowever, Mr. Mawyer failed to mentionrnthat the task has already begun.rnThe U.S. Taxpayers Party headquarteredrnin Vienna, Virginia, was founded in 1992rnto return the American Republic to itsrnbiblical and constitutional foundations.rnAny conservative of Mr. Mawyer’s persuasionrnwho reads the U.S. TaxpayersrnParty platform will discern the integrityrnof its philosophical grounding. It standsrnunequivocally for the defense of the unborn,rnnational sovereignty, national security,rnconstitutional restoration, and therndismantlement of the plunder state withrnits attendant class of anti-religious andrnanti-American agents. The U.S. TaxpayersrnParty, though underfunded and almostrnignored by the media, battledrnformidable obstacles to gain ballot accessrnin 21 states in 1992 and 39 states in 1996,rnwhen Pat Buchanan almost kicked thernGOP habit to run for President on thernUSTP ticket.rnThe road ahead is difficult. Most conservativesrnstill dream about saving thernbig tent party. But as time goes on, morernand more of them will come to see thatrnstanding on principle is the only practical,rnas well as honorable, course to take.rnAs George Washington said, “If, tornplease the people, we offer what we ourselvesrndisapprove, how can we afterwardrndefend our work? Let us raise a standardrnto which the wise and honest can repair.rnThe event is in the hand of God.”rn—Alan PotterrnSecretary, Virginia Taxpayers PartyrnGainesville, VArnMartin Mawyer’s April essay made onerngood point. I will put it my way: if thernChristian Right remains in the hip pocketrnof the Republican Party, it should planrnto get sat on a lot. He calls for a thirdrnparty. I ask: If the U.S. Taxpayers Partyrndoesn’t qualify as a pro-hfe, pro-Christian,rnpro-free enterprise third party, whyrndoesn’t it? There is already a third party:rnthe Libertarian Party. Mr. Mawyer is inrnfact calling for a fifth party. Even in arnparliamentary system, this would notrnmake sense.rnThere is no American example sincernthe 1850’s of a successful third party.rnTeddy Roosevelt’s fling as Taft’s spoilerrnin 1912 was successful only from thernpoint of view of Progressives in thernDemocratic Party. Harry Truman, asrnunpopular as he was in 1948, was notrnthwarted by two Democratic splinterrnparties. To think that an openly Christianrnnational third party in America canrndo anything except absorb politicallyrnnaive people’s time, money, and hopes isrnitself naive, unless you are expecting a socialrncataclysm in which the prevailing politicalrnorder is either overthrown or disintegratesrn—^which I do expect, by the way.rnWithout an unforeseen, “exogenous”rnevent of this magnitude, any suggestionrnthat three centuries of American politicalrnhistory can be overturned is as unconservativerna proposal as one might imagine.rnThe premise of conservatism is thatrnsocial change should be slow and be extendedrnby precedents except when outsidernforces beyond our control disruptrnmatters. American history has never embracedrnreligious political parties, notrneven in colonial days.rnThe Christian political right is lessrnthan two decades old. It has barelyrnreached the age of consent, let alone maturity.rnI find it difficult to believe thatrnthe same Christians who have yet to pullrntheir children out of the local publicrnschool system are ready and able to re-rn4/CHRONICLESrnrnrn