Chris Cillizza, a political reporter at the Washington Post, wrote an article last week explaining why House Speaker John Boehner (R-OH) could not get a majority of Republicans to support the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) bill that funded the president's executive amnesty.
Cillizza highlighted two changes at the national level that have empowered conservatives and the grassroots that represent the core of the GOP.
The end of earmarks
The rise of outside conservative money
I'm bringing these to your attention today because the Senate Conservatives Fund, with your support, has led the way on both fronts.
While it may seem like conservatives are losing important policy and political fights, the truth is that the conservative movement is stronger than ever and the liberals in the Republican Party are being exposed like never before.
First, look at the fight to end earmarks.
Cillizza rightly observes that the GOP "leadership was always able to cajole wavering lawmakers with the promise of a few million earmarked for a pet project."
GOP leaders can no longer buy off lawmakers with pork projects like the Bridge to Nowhere. They either have to give up on their liberal bills or show their true colors by getting the Democrats to help them.
There were a lot of people and groups that fought against earmarks, but nobody did more to actually bring an end to earmarks than our founder, former Senator Jim DeMint (R-SC), and the candidates SCF helped elect.
DeMint relentlessly exposed the waste and corruption that earmarks produced, and refused to accept phony reforms that would have allowed earmarks to continue. Then, the election of SCF's five anti-earmark senators in 2010 put the final nail in the coffin.
After defending earmarks for years, Senator Mitch McConnell (R-KY) was forced to change his position shortly before the Republican conference voted to ban them.
It was an embarrassing defeat for the Kentucky Republican, and it has made it much more difficult for the establishment to get GOP lawmakers to break their promises.
This never would have happened without the efforts of SCF donors.
Next, look at the rise of grassroots funding for conservative candidates.
Cillizza says that the rise of groups like SCF made it so conservative candidates "no longer had to rely on the good will of the leadership to raise money."
He's right and SCF is leading the way on this front too. No conservative group is doing more to directly support candidates and to level the financial playing field for principled candidates than SCF.
In the 2013-14 election cycle, SCF raised $4.9 million directly to candidates – more than virtually all other conservative PACs combined! Additionally, SCF spent $6.2 million on independent expenditures supporting our endorsed candidates.
In total, SCF invested $11.1 million directly into conservative candidates this past election, making it the #1 conservative PAC in America!
We did it by providing the grassroots with the tools to directly support candidates across the country. We did it by standing up to the liberals in both parties and backing candidates who gave Americans a real choice.
Thanks to your support, we have now helped elect eleven senators and five congressmen in the past three elections.
WE CAN CHANGE WASHINGTON
It's very easy to get discouraged when you see what this president is doing to our country, and how so-called Republican leaders refuse to stop him.
I know we can change Washington because we already have.
Little by little, we are gaining ground.
A majority of Republicans just rebuked the plan proposed by their leaders to fund the President's amnesty, and every day that goes by, fewer and fewer Americans are fooled by the Washington game.
We can take our country back if we stay engaged and keep working together.
Thank you for being part of SCF and for doing so much to secure America's future. Liberty is worth fighting for and I'm honored to be in the battle with you.
Sincerely,
Ken Cuccinelli II
President
Senate Conservatives Fund
@KenCuccinelli / @SCF