Howard Phillips remembers love of country instilled in 1950s America, the sharp left turn of the Massachusetts Democratic Party, attempting to coax Pat Buchanan to run on the Constitution Party ticket, and school days at two of America's elite schools (Boston Latin and Harvard University) in the final installment of this four-part FlynnFiles interview.

Too bad he didn't get Buchanan to run for them in '96, he had done extremely well in the early GOP primaries of 1992 and Phillips might be right about the boost it would have given his party. I hope they start having some electoral success at the local level so as to build a strong base.

I think you guys are smokin' crack....

The Constitution Party has no chance of making any significant inroads as a third party, ESPECIALLY with Buchannan. He's got to be one of the most divisive candidates I can imagine. Not that I don't enjoy his antics on the McLaughlin Group, but come on....I commend the optimism, but it's misguided.

Buchanan is too old now and wouldn't run again. I was talking about '96. And I want more division, as in a real choice.

Brian, I agree. I'm just being pessimistic. I wish the country took a more critical approach to evaluating a candidate beyond a nice haircut, a scandal or two, and some catchy slogans. Or, as in the case of Bush, hoping against hope that he is what we want him to be, rather than looking at what he really is.

It seems to me that the real point of supporting a third party is not to end up upsetting either of the 2 major parties as much as it is to force the debates themselves to broaden up. What I mean is that if a 3rd party candidate can get a significant percentage then the major parties have to respond to that by coopting some of their message and thus, hopefully, shifting their policies to attract votes away from the 3rd party.

Brian and Homer, Excellent points both of you raise. As always your posts are very good. I enjoy reading them.

Perhaps if we support a third party this will get the Republicans to take us, as conservatives, more seriously. Who knows? It seems to have worked for the so called "far left." It seems that by this group supporting candidates like Ralph Nader, got the Democratic party to move closer to their position. Perhaps by supporting a third party candidate we can get the Republican party to move closer to our position. In any event, I do not think we can over emphasize the fact that a "Republican" and a "Conservative" are different things entirely.

I had been checking the website of The Conservative Caucus semi-regularly, but I don't know when the last time was, before yesterday after I saw this Flynn Files post, that I had been there. (I know that I cited their excellent website around the time of the Roberts nomination... Something that I still need to write about more, especially with the new revelations that have arisen about that topic.) The thing is, I wish that more grassroots conservatives and Republicans were aware of TCC, and of Howard Phillips, and of the great stands that they have on the issues of today, and of the past few years. I am glad that, despite their lack of public awareness (and I don't know what their financial situation has been like), they are still active, on a national level. Thank you for conducting and sharing this interview... I have thought about trying to interview someone who is a principled, non-Establishment figure in the conservative movement (like possibly Nathan Tabor). Do you have any tips about this how to do this, that you'd like to share?

This interview helps put a human face on why someone becomes a committed, and politically independent, conservative. Mr. Phillips shoots from the hip, while aiming with his head and shooting for the heart. Perhaps it's only because he's not campaigning for office, but his candor about conservatives, inside and outside the beltway politics, and rubbing shoulders with all manner of politicos, are refreshing (esp. for me who, though having been involved in electoral politcs, never myself went to "Rome", i.e., Washington).

Bottom line: he makes me think harder about what conservatism is, and to pause and consider why one would, or should, abide by its principles. I'm grateful to Dan for giving this guy a forum.

The part about Roberts calling American a Constitutional democracy, not a Constitutional republic, was a good catch.