Contact: Bob Sturm, 703-396-6974; after 6 PM Eastern & on weekends, Bob Sturm, 703-307-8176; Vi Shields, 703-906-6542; ConservativeHQ.com  

MANASSAS, Va., Jan. 28 /Christian Newswire/ -- Richard A. Viguerie, Chairman of ConservativeHQ.com, issued the following statement concerning the proposal being considered by the Republican National Committee that would deny funding to candidates who did not meet political litmus tests on various issues:

"I'm pleased the state chairmen have voted unanimously against litmus tests for candidates. I'm hopeful the whole Republican National Committee will follow this recommendation.

"As I noted last December, the litmus test proposal is well-intentioned but would do little to solve the two fundamental problems within the Republican Party: bad leadership and conservative acquiescence to bad leadership.

"The problem the GOP faces is not so much with Republicans in Name Only (RINO) as it is with the current leadership, including Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell, House Minority Leader John Boehner, and the leading architect of Republican endorsed socialist-statism, former Bush White House political advisor Karl Rove.

"These leaders have consistently abandoned constitutional principles of limited government in favor of socialist-statist programs, all in the name of winning elections.

"The Bush-backed Medicare Prescription Drug Improvement and Modernization Act of 2003 was the largest federal program in decades. The Speaker of the House and Republican Majority Leader at the time, Dennis Hastert and Tom DeLay respectively, did everything in their power to pass this bill.

"In the fall of 2008, both McConnell and Boehner voted in favor of Bush's now-infamous Troubled Asset Relief Program legislation, a $700 billion bailout of large financial institutions.

"During both of these disasters, as well as many others, most of the national conservative leadership maintained its silence as the pragmatists destroyed free markets and conservative principles."

Rather than litmus tests, Viguerie urged conservatives to get involved in the 2010 primaries so that new Republican leaders can replace those now in power.

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) and one of the "conservatives of the century" (The Washington Times).