Sourcing an inspiration for the conservative movement's partisan extremism

Thomas Frank provides this Grover Norquist quote in The Wrecking Crew

First, we want to remove liberal personnel from the political process. Then we want to capture those positions of power and influence for conservatives. Stalin taught the importance of this principle. He was running the personnel department, while Trotsky was fighting the White Army. When push came to shove for control of the Soviet Union, Stalin won. His people were in place and Trotsky’s were not … With this principle in mind, conservatives must do all they can to make sure that they get jobs in Washington.

To give you an idea of the role Norquist plays in the conservative movement, it is fair to say that to a large extent Norquist's efforts are why John McCain had to embrace Bush's disastrous supply-side economics to get the Republican nomination.

Can you imagine what the response - especially on AM radio - would be if some influential figure in the Democratic party cited Stalin as a political role model?