Even if you hated Phyllis Schlafly's politics, you should still look to her life for an impressive model of effective political activism. /1

To take her most famous work, the Equal Rights Amendment seemed a sure thing when Congress sent it to the states in 1972. /2

The first state ratified the ERA within an hour, five more in the next day. By the end of the year, it had been ratified by 22 states. /3

Some exceptions (civil rights, LGBT/feminism). But in terms of securing power in party politics, absolutely.