NOW I'M CURIOUS

Molly Ball wrote that Heritage was once a real think-tank and now Dylan Scott writes in the same vein:

In its first year under former senator and tea party godfather Jim DeMint, there was a growing consensus -- and concern -- that the foundation once renowned for its intellectual rigor might now be more of a political advocacy outlet than a home for scholarly research, albeit of the conservative variety.
[snip]
Conservatives lamented to the New Republic that Heritage had become a political action group "with a research division," burning bridges with the House GOP, something totally foreign to "the gold standard of conservative, forward-looking thought" that it used to be. The foundation's $82 million budget was reportedly being scaled back, with more money flowing to the advocacy efforts that have so chafed Hill Republicans.
That's why Heritage's most recent hire could mark a potential return to normalcy and respectability for the foundation.

As far as I know, Heritage has never been respectable although two other Republican groups from the past, Advance magazine (see Kabaservice, pp. 53-77) and the Ripon Society (also Kabaservice, pp.91-129), seem to have been for real.