Conservatives Unsettled About Movement's FutureBy ADAM NAGOURNEY and DAVID D. KIRKPATRICK
WASHINGTON, Feb. 9 — Despite the triumph of placing two conservatives on the Supreme Court within four months, leaders of the conservative movement these days seem less celebratory than divided.
Heading into a midterm Congressional election in which the enthusiasm of conservative advocates could play a vital role in determining how Republicans fare, conservative leaders face internal rifts over polarizing issues and are dogged by a sense that a Republican-led Congress and a Republican president are not taking the nation in the proper direction on some critical matters, party leaders said.
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The leaders expressed concern about the loyalty of elected Republicans in Washington to the conservative agenda, complained about the growth of spending in Mr. Bush's latest budget and said they were uncertain, at a time when Congressional Republicans are squirming under the glare of a corruption inquiry, of the future of the movement."The degree to which the conservative movement is dissatisfied is very real," said Newt Gingrich, the former House speaker, who will give the closing speech at the conference on Saturday. "Conservatism is at its biggest crossroads since Reagan was nominated in 1980."
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The sentiments — coming on the 25th anniversary of the inauguration of President Ronald Reagan — reflect the strains that this diverse and powerful political coalition faces while Mr. Bush struggles to regain his political clout and House Republicans try to settle down after the departure of Representative Tom DeLay of Texas as majority leader. It was also evidence, coming after the Supreme Court victories, of what even some conservatives said was the difficulty of sating their segment of the electorate.
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http://www.nytimes.com/2006/02/10/politics/10conserv.html