The Awkward Age

THE General Election stirred up a wind of realization that the "New Right" is upon us. Actually, this conservative faction of political independents is not a novelty, but was born in the late '60s out of a growing and passionate resentment of hyper-liberalism.

By the '60s, conservatives usually grouped together to fight single issues, without any organizational network or institutionalized funding.

In 1968 recognizable right-wing political action committees (PACs) were born, and they have been carefully nursed and nurtured throughout the '70s, coming in and out of public view, but always growing. Now 12 years down the line the independent right has reached puberty--an age marked by awkwardness and self-assertion--a premature self-assertion arising not out of strength, but insecurity.

As with many adolescents, the wielding force behind the movement is a negative, critical one, calling attention to the weaknesses of the opposition rather than its own potential strengths. The theme of the 1980 Republican campaign, "It's time for a change," served as a euphemism for this negative lobbying.

The record of individuals involved in the Rightist movement, according to conservative journalist Alan Crawford in his book Thunder on the Right, is not sparkling clean. Crawford's book reports that Roger Stone (later to become National Conservative Political Action Committee (NCPAC) treasurer, as well as Young Americans for Freedom (YAF) chairman), while employed in the office of Herbert L. Porter at the Committee to Re-Elect the President in 1972, was involved in a "dirty tricks" campaign. A White House aide assigned Stone to make a donation to California Congressman Pete McCloskey, then a presidential primary candidate, "on behalf of some radical group." Porter had the idea of attributing the donation to the Gay Liberation Front, but Stone won out with his suggestion to send the money in the name of the Young Socialist Alliance. Stone and Porter sent the donation to the New Hampshire McCloskey offices, but they also sent a receipt of the endorsement along with an anonymous letter to William Loeb's Manchester Union Leader. This letter and a front page editorial subsequently appeared in the paper.

Another typical dirty-campaigning endeavor was once conceived of, but not executed, by Patrick Buchanan, who (according to Crawford) suggested that the White House anonymously support a black candidate for president in 1972, in order to split the Democrat vote.

Stormy Watergate left behind calm seas, and many Republicans wished to purge themselves of the underhanded dealings that leading party members had participated in. But this post-scandal period merely interrupted right-wing activities that quickly picked up the pace again through the late '70's, leading up to our most recent election.

Some political professionals believe that the New Right is the fourth most powerful organized political force in America, behind the two major political parties and organized labor; in the past two years, according to Thunder on the Right, the financial earnings of the New Right have surpassed those of organized labor.

The methodology for fund raising is closely linked to the specific groups, and many of these committees solicit funds through mass mailings. From the NCPAC and YAF to conservative religious affiliations like the Moral Majority (chaired by Jerry Falwell, host of "Old Time Gospel Hour"), letters that address the receiver as "Dear Friend" are sent by the millions, attacking single issues such as abortion, busing, gay rights, pornography, ERA, and even certain textbooks. Other letters take a more propagandistic approach, publishing general views on defense spending, and fundamentalist notions of the traditional family life in America. Regardless of the content these letters share one thing: they are answered with money.

NCPAC utilized the capital from the solicitations primarily to buy television time for political advertisements. According to a 1974 Court of Appeals ruling, independent groups may pay for communication advertisements for candidates, as long as the groups do not consult the candidates concerned. According to the National Journal of September 13, NCPAC chairman John T. Dolan wanted to support Reagan most aggressively in states where Carter seemed strongest, and therefore launched an advertising campaign critical of Carter's failures to realize promises made in 1976. Some of the commercials made harsher attacks than others, and CBS reportedly cited one particular advertisement to be in poor taste. The broadcasting company refused to air the ad, and rejected all other commercials paid for by any independent political groups.

ACCORDING to "Congressional Quarterly Weekly Report," many Senate races were particularly riddled with local commercials slandering Democratic incumbents--especially those on the hit-list of NCPAC staged a specific media project, "Target '80," aimed at shooting down five liberal Democrats: George McGovern, Birch Bayh, John Culver '54, Alan Cranston and Frank Church. All but Cranston, whose opposition was weak, fell to the NCPAC firing squad. The commercials used by the independent committee may tell why.

A South Dakota viewer watches a basketball player dribble and perform basketball acrobatics. The background music is "Sweet Georgia Brown." The narrator: "Globetrotter is a great name for a basketball team, but it's a terrible name for a senator." In Idaho, one television commercial shows an empty missile silo. The announcer tells the viewer that our weakened military is a direct manifestation of the votes cast by Frank Church in the Senate. Indiana commercials, later called "baloney ads," picture slices of baloney with multimillion dollar price tags on them, equalling the dollar count on deficit spending approved by Birch Bayh. The narrator says, "One very big slice of baloney is Birch Bayh telling us he's fighting inflation."

A post-election symposium held by ABC brought together three of the targeted senators, Bayh, Church and McGovern, with two of the most powerful rightist leaders in the country, Paul Weyrich of the Committee for the Survival of a Free Congress, and Falwell, president of the Moral Majority. Bayh took the opportunity to charge the Moral Majority with publishing propaganda stating that Bayh endorsed homosexuality and medical experimentation on aborted fetuses. Falwell denied the accusation.

Weyrich--who had earlier in the day told Vice President-Elect George Bush that he was not instrumental to the election of Reagan, and implied that if Bush did not take a consistently conservative stand, he could be replaced--was called to defend this apparent threat on the same ABC symposium. Weyrich said that "our movement is wedded to principles...to the extent that we do not agree with a politician, we will oppose him." He continued with a victory statement, "People who believe with these straightforward principles have been elected. I was inviting him [George Bush] to go with the tide. If he doesn't someone will stand up and oppose him."

Such threats and unethical advertising slink barely within legal limits of federal regulation on campaign procedure, and four different cases--all involving NCPAC--are now under investigation by the Federal Election Commission. But legal or not, these right-wing independents have had a profound effect so far on the politics of the decade, and it is more likely that the trend will continue. Even Reagan, in a recent press conference, when asked "how much consideration" he would give "to the advice" of such groups as the Moral Majority and people like Falwell, answered "I am not going to separate myself from the people who elected us and sent us here."

THE New Right is not satiated with influence over the executive branch, and a dozen seats in the Senate. They have targeted 20 senators in 1982, most of whom are Democrats. But a few are moderate Republicans. While the present list is tentative, among the wanted are Edward M. Kennedy '54 (Ma.), Donald W. Riegle, Jr. (Mich.), Howard M. Metzenbaum (Oh.), Paul S. Sarbanes (Md.), Harrison A. Williams Jr. (N.J.) and Daniel Patrick Moynihan (N.Y.) in the Democratic camp. Among the Republicans posted were Lowell P. Weicker, Jr. (Ct.), Robert T. Stafford (Vt.), and John H. Chafee (R.I.).

The conservatives are not only out to eliminate the "other guys," but also their own breed, disemboweling the liberal influence in government needed to maintain the delicate balance of power within the bipolar system. While it is not true that the New Right controlled the election, neither is it true that all the targeted Democrats would have fallen without a tilt of the scales.

In the same way that the adult must be aware of adolescent troubles, the public has to recognize the conservative coalitions and their peculiarities. Just as the adult should not give a 12-year-old too much responsibility, moderate and liberal voters must not endow the New Right with too much power. While remaining mindful of a growing phenomenon in American politics, the individual must not succumb to fear or acquiesce.