CAIRO, May 21, 2006 (IslamOnline.net) – The patriarch of US conservatives urged his followers on Sunday, May 21, to learn their lesson and stop their financial and logistic support of the Republican Party whose leaders throughout the years have "betrayed" conservative voters by failing to honor their election promises.

"Conservatives should dedicate their money and volunteer efforts toward conservative groups and conservative candidates," Richard Viguerie wrote in an opinion piece in The Washington Post.

"They should redirect their anger into building a third force -- not a third party, but a movement independent of any party. They should lay the groundwork for a rebirth of the conservative movement and for the 2008 campaign, when, perhaps, a new generation of conservative leaders will step forward," he added.

Viguerie took aim at President George W. Bush's tenure, saying that he has "never seen conservatives so downright fed up as they are today."

"The main cause of conservatives' anger with Bush is this: He talked like a conservative to win our votes but never governed like a conservative.

"Many conservatives have concluded that the benefits of unwavering support for the GOP [Republican Party] simply do not, and will not, outweigh the costs," opined Viguerie.

The veteran conservative said Bush has "betrayed" American conservatives by adopting a "Big Business" agenda not a conservative one as he promised before his election and re-election.

"Sixty-five months into Bush's presidency, conservatives feel betrayed. After the 'Bridge to Nowhere' transportation bill, the Harriet Miers Supreme Court nomination and the Dubai Ports World deal, the immigration crisis was the tipping point for us," he said.

Viguerie also cited approval of the Republican-controlled House of more taxpayers' money for an embryo-killing type of stem cell research and a "hate crimes" measure that could lead to the classification as "hate" of criticism of homosexual activity.

"In today's Washington, where are the serious efforts by Republicans to protect unborn children from abortion? Where is the campaign for a constitutional amendment to prevent liberal judges from allowing same-sex marriage?"

He went on: "We've been rewarded with an amnesty plan for illegal immigrants. We've been rewarded with a war in Iraq that drags on because of the failure to provide adequate resources at the beginning.

"Now we know what they do when they have control."

Viguerie said the current relationship between the Republicans and the conservatives is similar to the one between a cheating husband and his forgiving wife.

This, he added, "makes me think of a cheating husband whose wife catches him, and forgives him, time and time again. Then one day he comes home to discover that she has packed her bags and called a cab -- and a divorce lawyer."

Viguerie advised American conservatives to stay home in the mid-term Congressional elections in November, saying that the expected win of Democrats could be good in the long-term for the conservatives.

"Sometimes it is better to stand on principle and suffer a temporary defeat," he put it wisely.

"If conservatives accept the idea that we must support Republicans no matter what they do, we give up our bargaining position and any chance at getting things done," he added.

Viguerie reminded the Republicans that it is largely the defection of conservatives that is driving the president's poll numbers to new lows.

"Unhappy conservatives should be taken seriously," he warned the Republican camp.

"When conservatives are unhappy, bad things happen to the Republican Party."

He cited the conservatives' key role in past Republican defeats during the eras of presidents Thomas E. Dewey, Richard M. Nixon and Gerald R. Ford.