Contact: Bob Sturm, 703-396-6974; after 6 PM Eastern, Bob Strum, 703-307-8176; Cynthia Chambliss, 703-930-5148
MANASSAS, Virginia, Sept. 24 /Christian Newswire/ -- "Conservatives are so strongly opposed to the bailout that John McCain risks undoing all his gains with conservatives if he supports it," the Chairman of ConservativeHQ.com, Richard A. Viguerie, said.
"If John McCain supports this bailout, he will lose all of the goodwill and support he has gained from conservatives by picking Governor Palin as his running mate," said Viguerie.
The proposed $700 billion bailout "would almost certainly be followed by bailouts for automakers, and bailouts for credit card companies, and bailouts for all the people whose businesses will be hurt by the economic downtown caused by all the bailouts," Viguerie said. "It's a death spiral for the American economy, and conservatives refuse to go along for the ride.
"Millions of conservatives and millions of other Americans will refuse to vote for anyone running for president or Congress who supports the bailout," Viguerie predicted.
He added, "Our country's leaders have failed us, and Americans have every right not to believe what President Bush is saying. Month after month, he and his treasury secretary assured us that everything was fine. When witnesses change their stories, lawyers ask them: Were you lying then, or are you lying now?"
"Which version of the state of the economy does the President want us to believe - what he said then or what he says now?"
"The last thing Americans need is Republican special interests teaming up with Democratic special interests to take care of their own at our expense," he said. "People have wised up, and will not fall for 'Trust me; I'm from the government, and I'm here to help'."
NOTE TO EDITORS: Richard A. Viguerie pioneered political direct mail and has been called "one of the creators of the modern conservative movement" (The Nation magazine), one of the "conservatives of the century" (The Washington Times), and one of 2008's "top 25 influencers" among Republicans (NewsMax magazine). His latest book is Conservatives Betrayed: How George W. Bush and Other Big-Government Republicans Hijacked the Conservative Cause (Bonus Books).