The good news for Republicans is that the conservative grassroots of the party, mobilized by Sarah Palin, constitute a fired up political army, ready for the ideological  battles lying ahead.

    The bad news is that from the top down the GOP looks like a country club, more likely to accommodate the Democrats’ leftist agenda than fight it.  The general staff simply doesn’t intend to fight.

    But, Imagine for a moment how different American politics would be if the Republican National Committee were a conservative political action organization countervailing the left’s permanent political campaign against Republicans.  Imagine a RNC that provided a forum for conservative spokesmen on each issue in the news and mobilized political support in Congress, holding Democrats accountable for their failed leftist policies and political boondoggles (like the mortgage bank fiasco).  Imagine a RNC that used its political clout to amplify the work of conservative think tanks and issue groups.

    Transforming the RNC is, of course, a pipe dream, but conservative Republicans can develop a powerful and independent presence inside the Beltway by establishing a strong grassroots organization in the heartland.  Without leaving the GOP, conservatives can establish a parallel (often overlapping) organization capable of fighting left-wing policies in Washington while growing conservative leaders to run for public office at all levels.  In Sarah Palin we have the point guard required for this effort.  She could probably raise the initial funding and membership to get the organization underway by sponsoring a couple of bake sales.

    Let’s imagine such an organization.  Since it has to have a name, we could call it the Ronald Reagan Republicans, or simply RRRepubicans.  Let’s call our activists “community organizers” (to show how hip we are).  At the precinct and county level we would have a good deal of overlap between the GOP and the RRRepublicans.  (When I was head of the University of Wyoming Young Republicans in 1964 the only difference between that organization and the Youth for Goldwater was that I handed the gavel over to the YFG chairman; the membership was the same.)  At the state level and above the sharper ideological focus and increased activism of the RRRepublicans would become apparent.  There should also be Congressional district and regional-level organizations.  This would serve to provide an opportunity for RRRepublican leaders to gain stature before seeking governorships or US Senate seats, or perhaps moving from there to a run for president.    

    RRRepublican national community organizers (the RRRepublican National Comnmittee) would sponsor frequent “interventions” inside the Beltway to mobilize opposition to leftist policies.  Typically, an intervention would be a combination rally, media event, teach-in and lobbying effort. Remember, with only talk radio and the bloggers in play, the comprehensive amnesty immigration bill was stopped last spring, though it was supported by the administration, leadership of both parties in Congress, and the media.  A formal conservative Republican organization with a permanent presence in Washington would  be able to do for conservative political action what talk radio has done for conservative media.

    Interventions could take place outside the Beltway, too.  If RRRepublicans had existed last summer, they could have staged an intervention in Michigan, focusing attention on the fact that the Democrats’ economic policy of resentment, redistribution and high taxes resulted in a recession for the state.  This could have helped make the economy work for the GOP as a national issue .

    By functioning as an umbrella organization for conservative think tanks and issue groups as well as Republican leaders, the RRRepublicans would amplify their efforts.

    I mention Sarah Palin not only because she is the only Republican in the country today who can either raise significant amounts of money or mobilize large numbers of activists but also because her name has become a shibboleth for separating fighting conservatives from Republicans who merely like to use the conservative label (apparently for certain esthetic reasons).  With a state to run, she would probably not be able to serve as chief executive of the RRRepublicans, but as honorary point guard in chief, she could get the organization off the ground with minimal demands on her time.

    Republicans lost in 2006 and 2008 to the left’s permanent political campaign against them.  There is no countervailing political organization on the right.  Talk radio is getting the job done as the alternative media, but the regular GOP is not even trying to compete as a permanently mobilized political action organization.  RRRepublicans would fill this vacuum.