Thunder on the Right

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Researchers at the more traditional think tanks sometimes speak disdainfully of Heritage's emphasis on lobbying and publicity. Feulner admits that the more deliberative institutions produce most of the genuinely original research in public policymaking. Says he: "We're secondhand dealers in ideas." Yet even liberals in Washington acknowledge, sometimes ruefully, that Heritage's mostly young analysts (the staff of 105 includes 53 professionals) are extremely effective at getting across their point of view. "That feisty new kid on the conservative block" is the kudo offered by one Heritage fan. His name: Ronald Reagan.