By Nancy Thorner -
Phyllis Schlafly's death on Labor Day, Sept. 5, 2016, takes on a special meaning in that Phyllis was at peace in knowing that she had done all she could do and had a clear conscience. As an American treasure, Phyllis had been fighting the good fight for American sovereignty and cultural renewal for five decades.
Phyllis Schlafly, as the founder and CEO of Eagle Forum in 1972, was a conservative icon since her bestselling book, A Choice not an Echo, was published in 1964, revealing how the GOP "kingmakers" used every trick in the book to dictate the choice of the Republican presidential nominee. Their objective was to maintain control of a Republican Party that would mirror the New Deal Democrats rather than offer voters a meaningful choice.
In 2014, an updated and expanded version of A Choice Not An Echo was published with a forward by Dr. Ron Paul. This updated book ends with reflections about the 2016 race by Maureen Dowd of the New York Times and others telling readers to prepare for a Hillary and Jeb ticket in 2016. Phyllis's response at the time was that the 2016 nomination for president was not yet locked up. And she was right!
Observing early in the nomination process that Donald Trump was an outsider (not part of the Republican establishment), and that someone was needed who was not beholden to the dictates of the Republican establishment, Phyllis endorsed Trump on her own, apart from any association with Eagle Forum, in his bid for the presidency. Schlafly's personal conviction about Trump was not received well by several state Eagle Forum presidents who supported Cruz, making Phyllis's decision to endorse and support Trump an ever present source of grief, which evolved into a sense of betrayal when six renegade Eagle Forum member filed a lawsuit, which is still on going, to take control of a critical Eagle Forum board. The so-called Gang of Six felt they knew better what Eagle Forum should represent and its future direction than CEO and founder, Phyllis Schlafly.
Schlafly, upon observing how for the first time since 1980 a significant number of Republicans were strongly considering abandoning Donald Trump in the November, 2016 elections — which Schlafly believed was a grave mistake given that Trump's redirection could actually set America back on the path of Reagan's conservative revolution — published shortly before her death through Regnery Publishing, The Conservative Case for Trump, with co-authors Ed Martin, former head of the Missouri Republican Party and president of Eagle Forum since January, 2015, and Brett M. Decker, who has been an editor for the Wall Street Journal and editorial page editor for the Washington Times.
In The Conservative Case for Trump, Schlafly and her coauthors Ed Martin and Brett M. Decker set aside the circus of the campaign and zero in on ten defining points of the Trump agenda to convince Republican voters that Donald Trump — improbable as it may seem to some — is the true conservative they have been waiting for.
If you can't stand Hillary Clinton but wonder if you could vote for Donald Trump, you need to buy The Conservative Case or Trump. Schlafly presents the real Trump, the Trump she and her colleagues met and interviewed. During a campaign stop in St. Louis, MO, site of Eagle Forum’s headquarters, Trump made commitments to Phyllis that convinced her that Trump could become the most conservative president this nation has had since Ronald Reagan. But like Reagan, Trump, if elected, will inherit an America on the ropes, both weakened and divided.
In thinking ahead to November and the election results and to a possible White House win, Trump must yet face a barrage of "anything to win" campaign rhetoric from a desperate and untruthful Hillary Clinton, a far left ideologue who considers herself above the law. Can enough voters be convinced that Trump is an antidote, a first time politician who could actually live up to his campaign slogan to "Make America Great Again." I certainly hope so. The Conservative Case For Trump is a good way to bring those who question Trump's motives, temperament and policies into the "Trump for President" fold.
Revealed in The Conservative Case for Trump are the following important points:
- How Trump's appointees to the Supreme Court (on which Schlafly advised him) could be the most consequential in a century.
- How, unlike any other Republican, Trump could actually fix the nation's immigration mess.
- Why his economic platform could spark an economic revival on the scale of the Reagan boom of the 1980s (it is based on much the same plan).
- How Trump will defend the First Amendment–guaranteeing freedom of speech and religion–against an ever more dictatorial Left.
- Why Trump's fresh thinking on defense and foreign policy is long overdue–and could send terrorism into rapid retreat.
Featured in Phyllis Schlafly Eagle Forum newsletter for this past May is this article by Ambassador Faith Whittlesey, Trump and Reagan: Similarities and Differences, who served beside Regan in the White House and as one of his ambassadors.
How fitting that Phyllis's final column, Trump in Mexico Recalls Reagan in Geneva, deals with the Gipper's no-surrender issue that led to the end of the Cold War.
Following Phyllis Schlafly’s death on Monday, September 5th, Trump did not hesitate to issue this statement:
“Phyllis Schlafly is a conservative icon who led millions to action, reshaped the conservative movement, and fearlessly battled globalism and the ‘kingmakers’ on behalf of America’s workers and families. I was honored to spend time with her during this campaign as she waged one more great battle for national sovereignty. I was able to speak with her by phone only a few weeks ago, and she sounded as resilient as ever. Our deepest prayers go out to her family and all her loved ones. She was a patriot, a champion for women, and a symbol of strength. She fought every day right to the end for America First. Her legacy will live on in the movement she led and the millions she inspired.”
Phyllis Schlafly did all she could to educate and help voters understand the importance of the upcoming November elections. May her final work, The Conservative Case for Trump, be a wake-up call to those who might still be on the fence about Trump and likewise serve to further energize those who are already full-fledged Trump supporters. May they go out to enlist others to join the Trump movement in November.
