Why Ron Paul is Still Relevant, and Necessary

Tea Party activists and others among the conservative grassroots know that today’s Republican Party is a far cry from the fiscal hawk it once was. Years of “compassionate conservatism” and establishment leadership unconcerned about fidelity to the party’s principle have gotten the GOP lost in the forest, with no plan to rescue itself.

But, this isn’t the first time the top echelon of Republican leadership has wandered from the path of virtue. Decades ago in the 1950s and 1960s, Republicans found themselves in a similar situation. Fortunately for the fate of the party — and the modern conservative movement — they had United States Senator Barry Goldwater to bring them back.

“There were other solid conservatives in Congress in the 1950s and 1960s, but only Goldwater had the guts to stand up on the floor of the U.S. Senate and call President Eisenhower’s policies a ‘dime store New Deal,’” writes ConservativeHQ.com Chairman Richard A. Viguerie in his book, Conservatives Betrayed. “That forthrightness and honesty endeared him to us conservatives, and we made him our leader.”

Goldwater’s 1964 presidential campaign may not have been a success electorally, but what it did do was launch a conservative movement that is still flourishing today. By challenging the establishment leadership, Goldwater became a hero of conservatives looking for new leadership. And, today’s conservatives are beneficiaries of his courage and determination to see change within his own party.

Today, conservatives are in a similar position. The party is lost as a result of years of bad leadership, and bad politics. In a response to the abandonment of fiscal values, the Tea Party movement was born, and is fueled by conservative anger at GOP leadership that has given rise to skyrocketing deficits, a faltering economy, and the election of President Barack Obama.

Follow Joe Miller at Twitter HERE and Facebook HERE.

 Read More at Conservative HQ By Andrew Davis, Conservative HQ