Just How Many “Secretive Clubs” Does The Right Have?

[ck4829]

It is no secret that the GOP’s right-wing base is unenthusiastic about the current crop of presidential frontrunners. As the New York Times reported last month:

A group of influential Christian conservatives and their allies emerged from a private meeting at a Florida resort this month dissatisfied with the Republican presidential field and uncertain where to turn.

The event was a meeting of the Council for National Policy, a secretive club whose few hundred members include Dr. James C. Dobson of Focus on the Family, the Rev. Jerry Falwell of Liberty University and Grover Norquist of Americans for Tax Reform. Although little known outside the conservative movement, the council has become a pivotal stop for Republican presidential primary hopefuls, including George W. Bush on the eve of his 1999 primary campaign.

But in a stark shift from the group’s influence under President Bush, the group risks relegation to the margins. Many of the conservatives who attended the event, held at the beginning of the month at the Ritz-Carlton on Amelia Island, Fla., said they were dismayed at the absence of a champion to carry their banner in the next election.

Now, the Boston Globe is reporting that another secretive right-wing political organization is going beyond the Council for National Policy’s mere complaining and is actively interviewing candidates in order to determine which nominee meets its criteria:

Leaders of a secretive coalition that includes some of the most influential social conservatives in the nation are interviewing presidential candidates in hopes of flexing political muscle and reframing the Republican primaries in 2008.

Over the past few months, members of the executive committee of the so-called Arlington Group have questioned several declared and potential White House hopefuls with the intention of settling on a single candidate, according to Arlington Group members and Republican operatives familiar with the discussions.

http://www.rightwingwatch.org/2007/03/just_how_many_s.html

[napi21]

1. Who knows. That's why they're called "secretive"!

My guess is that they have many, and at least one for every one of their PET topics!

[Ghost in the Machine]

2. It's a secret... I can't tell you unless you say the password...

and do the secret ring knock...

[Kurovski]

3. The White House itself is the biggest secretive club. (nt)

[jaysunb]

4. KKK, White Citizens Council....

they're all they same. :evilfrown: