I read the news Sunday that Jack Kemp passed away. I am sure there are going to be many wonderful articles written about his life.
I had the pleasure of crossing paths with Jack Kemp a couple of times. The first time was when he campaigned for Bill Baker in his first run for Congress back in 1992. I next had the opportunity to greet him on the tarmac at the Oakland Airport when he was the Vice Presidential running mate to Bob Dole in 1996. The last time I saw Kemp was at the Republican National Convention in 2004. Kemp had a way about him that just made you feel good just to be in his presence.
The passing of Jack Kemp has a deeper meaning for me as he, like Ronald Reagan before him, was the last of the nice conservatives. He was a conservative you could have a difference of opinion with and still work with politically at the end of the day. Kemp was a regular at the annual NAACP conventions. He believed in empowerment for minorities and brining them into the Republican party. Not a place you would find many of today’s conservative leaders.
By the end of his political career he was marginalized by conservatives and labored in obscurity.
If Republicans want to get out of the wilderness they would do well to walk the walk and talk the talk as Jack Kemp did. This will require a lot more than just meeting in pizza parlors and changing the spin.
{ 2 comments… read them below or add one }
To the Editor:
Witty is what the late Republican Congressman, Jack Kemp, could be.
In a 1985 debate with Bob Dole, then a Republican senator from Kansas, Kemp came prepared to handle Dole’s sarcasm.
During the debate, Dole said: “Kemp wants a business deduction for hair spray.”
Kemp retorted: “”In a recent fire, Bob Dole’s library burned down. Both books were lost. And he hadn’t even finished coloring one of them.”
Richard S. Colman
Orinda, CA
May 10, 2009
I had not seen this post until it was forwarded to me. Its sentiment matches the Reader’s Forum piece I wrote on Jack Kemp which was featured today at http://www.cctimes.com.
Jack Kemp was a solid fiscal conservative who understood how to talk about the policies of his party and came up with ways to empower people in their communities rather than through the long arm of government. He shall be missed!