It is interesting, as I finish Tim Alberta's book on the Tea Party takeover of the GOP House, to read about GOP precursors from 1979, who used similar techniques later popularized by Newt Gingrich (who was in his 1st year in the House at the time).
newspapers.com/clip/41416184/
newspapers.com/clip/41416184/
This story focuses on John Ashbrook, Bob Bauman, and John Rousselot, each of whose career contained fascinating political trajectories. /2
Ashbrook, who had been part of the Draft Goldwater Movement, primaried Nixon from the Right in 1972 (with the slogan "No Left Turn") and later became the first House Republican to call for Nixon's resignation./3
John Rousselot had served as the Western Regional Director of the John Birch Society. He later worked briefly as a special assistant to President Ronald Reagan. /4
Bauman, who is still alive, "serves as legal counsel for the Sovereign Society, a group dedicated to promoting offshore banking and investment," according to wikipedia./5
Getting back to the article, the author, Irwin B. Arieff was astute to note their "flair for the dramatic" and use of theatricality and ability to turn the House Chamber into "a stage for the expression of their political beliefs." /7
