The Dan Smoot Report: A Breath Of Hope (#590) (sound)

a breath of Hope early in 1966 left-wing political leaders castigated conservatives for trying to influence the 1966 elections saying that our objective was to unseat new liberals elected in 1964 they fearfully predicted that if liberal Democrats lost as many as 37 seats in the House the loss would spell the Doom of Johnson's Great Society actually they lost 47 seats and if these 47 votes had been switched in 1965-66 they would indeed have blocked key segments of Johnson's socialistic program constitutional conservatives are not jubilant about such Republican victories as those of the Rockefellers in New York and Arkansas but the 1966 elections did give us a fine breath of Hope the 1968 elections could give us the restoration of our constitutional republic if we redouble our efforts toward that end that is a summary of my report on a breath of Hope the full report after a message from my sponsor early in 1966 the AFL CIO committee on political action cop published an expensive mailing piece entitled They're Playing for Keeps cop was talking about the John ber Society about me and about five other broadcasters whom cope calls the big guns on the rightest radio and TV Firing Line cope says our aim is to take over Congress or at the very least to destroy the present liberal majority Under The Heading the messages they spout over the airwaves the cope publication gives samples of what it regards as my most deplorable statements quote President Johnson's war on poverty is misnamed it is not a war war against poverty it is a war against the American constitutional system and against the freedom Independence and prosperity of the American people it will create in the United States a socialist dictatorship as complete and degrading and as destructive of material Prosperity as any now existing in communist countries our Republic can be saved if the people will elect a Congress and a president who will respect the Constitution as a clear and binding contract of government who will repeal all existing federal laws and abolish all existing Federal programs not obviously authorized by some provision of the Constitution who will reject all new proposals for federal programs not sanctioned by the Constitution in short we the people must put constitutionalists at the helm of government end quote that's what the union publication quoted me as saying and I said it it quoted me correctly it's not often that I can congratulate leftwing union bosses for honesty but here I can they admit that we whom they call ritus want a return to Legal American constitutional government they obviously want a socialist dictatorship arranged and managed by elected minions whom they tightly control in the 89th Congress the one which Johnson called my Congress Union supported liberals had a near Monopoly of the 435 Representatives 200 148 were friends of union bosses and 60 of the 100 US senators were generally regarded as Union flunkies totalitarian Liberals are eloquent and effusive about what they call the Democratic process as long as they control it but they are frenetic about any threat to their monopolistic control their frenzy shows in the cope publication I mentioned quote the title wave of votes that swept president President Johnson into office in 1964 carried with him 51 new liberals into the US House these 51 new liberals have spelled the difference between Victory and defeat for Great Society programs these are the seats the right-wingers are after end quote cop said that a loss for Democrat liberals of as many as 37 seats in the House of Representatives would put an end to Johnson's Great Society programs actually their losses were even greater than anxious labor leaders had feared Republicans made a net gain of 47 seats in the House of Representatives three in the Senate they elected enough new Governors to give the Republican party control of 25 state capitals possibly 26 depending on the outcome of the Georgia controversy and the Republicans picked up some 700 new seats in state legislatures it should be carefully noted however that 100 99 of the 435 US representatives who constitute the 90th Congress and 58 of the 100 US senators are friends of labor union leaders if there were that many constitutionalists in Congress they could influence moderate and roll back the Socialist Revolution nonetheless the 1966 elections did give us a fine breath of Hope with the relatively minor gains we made we have an exhilarating opportunity to hold the line while working for real victory in 1968 constitutional conservatives do not share the boundless Jubilation of Republican politicians over the 1966 elections Republicans May Rejoice about Rockefeller victories in New York and Arkansas but constitutional conservatives know that the country would be better off if Paul Adams Conservative Party candidate for governor had W in New York and if Jim Johnson Democrat Party candidate had won in Arkansas constitutional conservatives cannot Rejoice about victories of such Republicans as George Bush who won a seat in the house from Houston by advertising himself as a progressive and David cargo who won the governorship of New Mexico by campaigning as a liberal we have no enthusiasm for Republican Mark Hatfield who won a senate race in Oregon but we suppose he will not be worse than senator newberger who preceded him and he could be better than Robert Duncan his Democrat opponent Who as a member of Congress in 1965-66 had a zero rating as a conservative we are not gleeful about George Romney's victory in Michigan but we are delighted that his opponent and Sophie Williams were soundly defeated Congressional quarterly analysis of the 1966 elections is typical of about 99% of the public analyses that have been made quote the vast majority of successful Republican candidates both for Congressional and State offices appear to have rejected the ultraconservative ideology which former Senator Barry Goldwater symbolized and which carried the GOP down to its lowest level since the depression the 1966 elections appeared to lay the groundwork for a strong moderate Republican challenge to President Johnson in 1968 end quote the lessons which this analysis apparently intends to teach are that the Republican Party must be surrendered totally to the Rockefeller Romney Javit kickle liberals who call themselves moderates and that the party must never again dare nominate for president a candidate as conservative as Goldwater I disagree I think that if the revitalized Republican party is surrendered to the Liberals leaving no hope that the party will ever be anything but a smudged copy of the Democrat Party that the Republican party will die and its death will be good riddens for the nation Congressional quarterly says Ronald rean won the governorship of California because Reagan was able to shed his one-time Ultra conservative image again I disagree Reagan's televised speech for Goldwater in 1964 the best speech made for any candidate of either party that year gave him a reputation as an effective spokesman for conservatism it was this reputation and not any moderating or compromising of the political principles which gave him the reputation that catapulted Reagan into the upper echelons of political importance if Ronald Reagan remains true to the principles that gave him political prominence he could be the next president of the United States if he listens to the siren song of moderation as Goldwater did he will follow goldwater's political path all in all it is quite impossible to say with certainty why the people voted as they did on November 8th 1966 but I believe most of them were registering strong disapproval of the corrupt wasteful ineffective unconstitutional Federal activities lumped under the general heading of Johnson's Great Society programs none of this is meant to imply that all 47 House Seats lost by liberal Democrats in 1966 will be occupied by good conservatives they will not be but at least the men in them will not belong to that controlled group of political opportunists and sycophants whom Johnson lumped together in the phrase my Congress they will be susceptible to the influence of constitutional conservatives if they hear from enough of us often enough more than that many Old-Timers in Congress who have made careers by veering with changing political winds are no doubt astute enough to detect the people's vast unrest and discontent with policies of the federal government many of them supported Great Society programs in 1965-66 because they thought that was the politically expedient thing to do now they can be taught that it is politically expedient to support constitutional government and to repair some of the damage that Johnson's 89th Congress did it is up to you who listen to such broadcasts as this and know what constitutional government means to do the teaching one specific thing you can do is support the sponsors who make such broadcasts as this possible without the sponsors there would be no broadcasts let my sponsors know that it is good business for them to advertise with such broadcasts as mine write them letters telling them so but more importantly give them your business that's the way to help keep such broadcasts as mine on the air a month before the 1966 elections hardworking conservatives on the point of quitting were saying gloomily that the Johnson Steamroller could not be stopped that our Republic would not last long enough for constitutional to establish even a beach head in Congress now they're saying we have our beach head let's go the 1966 elections gave us a breath of Hope the 1968 elections can give us the restoration of our constitutional republic the time to start doubling and redoubling our efforts for 1968 is now right now and to help do the educational job that needs to be done in the next 2 years all of you who know and Care need Educational Tools one tool that I suggest is my published report you can get a trial subscription of it for 3 months $3 for the report on which this broadcast is based and 25 cents to Dan Smoot Dallas 14 Texas and ask for 590 a breath of Hope 10 copies $1 this is Dan smooth goodbye God bless you