Route to '66: Ray Bliss, the 1966 Election and the Development of the Republican Service Party
DOI:
https://doi.org/10.15763/issn.2374-7781.2010.31.0.67-89Abstract
The pace of the Republican Party’s recovery after Goldwater’s 1964 loss, highlighted by the party’s competitiveness in the 1966 elections, has raised a number of questions about how the party was able to reorganize and rebuild so rapidly. What was the nature of the organizational changes introduced at the RNC after the 1964 loss? Moreover, what effect did such changes have on t party’s he long-term development of the modern Republican Party? By examining the party-building process that followed the defeat, particularly in the areas staff training, message development and fundraising, I seek to illustrate how a new, more centralized and professional service approach to party organization, pioneered by RNC Chair Ray Bliss, played a critical role in the party’s rapid recovery, as well as its organizational viability over time.References
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