Some of what was said on either side of the Republican ideological divide was undoubtedly for effect, to try to help avert the nomination of the President or of the former California Governor.

But the far right insists that its objective is not so much to win the election next November as to hasten the demise of the Republican Party.

The party, said Richard A. Viguerie, a prime mover in the Committee for a New Majority, "is just not a viable vehicle for conservatives.

"It's like a disabled tank on a bridge," he said, "impeding the troops from crossing to the other side. You've got to take that tank and throw it in the river."

Source: Naughton, James M. Some Republicans Fearful Party Is on Its Last Legs. New York Times. May 31, 1976.