Paul Weyrich, RIP
by David Keene
Issue 123 - January 7, 2009

Paul Weyrich was conservative long, long before it was cool. He campaigned as a volunteer for Barry Goldwater in his native Wisconsin and won local fame as a radio broadcaster and activist there before coming to Washington to work as press secretary to then Senator Gordon Allot of Colorado.

While working for the Colorado Senator, Paul met Joe Coors and more than either could have guessed began with that meeting. Coors was a conservative with money who wanted to make a difference and Paul was filled with ideas as to how he could help.

Coors' biographer wrote years later that Coors had written a letter to his Senator in 1970 saying he "wanted to do something" and to do it by spending "money of the conservative movement." The letter landed on Paul's desk and the results included the Heritage Foundation, the Free Congress Foundation and much else.

Paul was a pioneer, a visionary and a tough enforcer of conservative principle. He had little time for moderates or those who simply gave lip service to the values he held dear. His goal was to recruit conservatives, train them both ideologically and in campaign techniques and send them off to do battle with the liberals who dominated Washington in those days.

He could be ornery, but he accomplished more than almost anyone of his generation. His was a conservatism born and shaped in the battles of the early days of the movement. He planted the conservative flag in Washington, worked with whoever he had to work with to pass conservative legislation and brought ideas to the table and discipline to the war to turn those ideas into action.

It was Paul who recruited Jerry Falwell to help put together the "Moral Majority" which was so instrumental in moving uninvolved and former Democratic leaning church going voters into the conservative and Republican folds.

The health problems Paul confronted in the last few years would have stopped most men, but not him. He spoke, wrote, cajoled and threatened slackers right up to his death. He will be missed and he will be hard to replace.

David Keene is chairman of the American Conservative Union. He speaks for all of us at ACU and for conservatives everywhere. Paul Weyrich has appeared in every issue of ConservativeBattleline On Line from right after its inception, for which we were honored and about which he expressed pleasure. May he rest in peace with the Savior he forthrightly acknowledged and served so well. DD