Contact: Bob Sturm, 703-396-6974; after 6 PM Eastern or Weekends, Vi Shields or Bob Sturm, 703-906-6542, 703-307-8176

DENVER, May 23 /Christian Newswire/ -- In his keynote speech on May 23 to the Libertarian Party National Convention, Richard A. Viguerie, one of the founders of the modern conservative movement, declared today that John McCain is "trying to get conservative support on the cheap."

"Senator McCain has had the Republican presidential nomination sewn up for over three months and has done nothing to convince conservatives to come off the sidelines and enthusiastically support him," Viguerie said.

In his speech, "Conservatives are off the GOP Reservation: Will they find a home in the Libertarian Party?," Viguerie said that Democrats and Republicans have both failed America.

"Republican leaders have treated conservatives with utter disrespect and, in turn, conservatives have lost all respect for Republican leaders. Millions of grassroots conservative activists and donors have left the Republican Party and taken with them their volunteer time, their checkbooks, and their votes," he said.

Viguerie said, "Today, the Libertarian Party has a historic opportunity to provide leadership for America."

A complete text of the speech is posted on ConservativeHQ.com here 

Viguerie will also be interviewed on C-SPAN's Washington Journal at 7:30 AM Eastern time on Sunday, May 25.

NOTE TO EDITORS: Richard A. Viguerie pioneered political direct mail and has been called "one of the creators of the modern conservative movement" (The Nation magazine) and one of the "conservatives of the century" (The Washington Times). His latest book is Conservatives Betrayed: How George W. Bush and Other Big-Government Republicans Hijacked the Conservative Cause (Bonus Books), which, Jerome Corsi wrote in WorldNetDaily, is "destined to become a classic of conservative thinking" and "may be the most important conservative book written in the last quarter century."