A Kempian Approach to Navigating the Wilderness

Much discussion has occurred in the news over the last weeks as to the future of the Republican Party. Rush Limbaugh and Colin Powell are feuding, Michael Steele and Mitt Romney are in a spat – there is a definite leadership vacuum in the party. So where to turn? I think the party would best be represented by a candidate who held the ideals and optimism of the late Jack Kemp.

I’ve always been a Kemp fan. I admire how he always held to his conservative ideals without being snarky or mean-spirited. He always sought a big tent for the party, not by placating to others, but by convincing others of his ideas. He was never overly partisan and disdained personal attacks, but also was not afraid to point out where the other side was wrong, nor was he afraid to point out where his own party was wrong. His desired outreach to minorities was a rarity among Republican ranks, the rarity of which is costing the party dearly now. (In college, I heard Colin Powell speak and he was asked about running on a Powell/Kemp or Kemp/Powell ticket. He joked that if that were the case, Kemp would get the black vote and he would get the white vote.) I remember in 10th grade (1992) predicting and hoping that Jack Kemp would be the nominee in 1996 (I know, it’s pretty sad I was so into politics as a 10th grader). He didn’t run, but he was tapped as Bob Dole’s running mate in the losing effort. However, in honor of the late Jack Kemp, here are some excerpts from his VP acceptance speech from 1996. Unfortunately, I cannot find the video of it. But his words from this speech would be a good starting point for the Republican Party today:

“Abraham Lincoln believed, you serve your party best by serving your country first... I begin this campaign to take our message of growth, hope, leadership and cultural renewal to all Americans. We will carry the word to every man, woman and child of every color and background that…with liberty, equality and justice for all.

“I am putting our opponents on notice. We are asking for the support of every single American. Our appeal of boundless opportunity crosses every barrier of geography, race and belief. We may not get every vote, but we will speak to every heart. In word and action, we will represent our entire American family… the purpose of a great party is not to defeat the other party but to provide superior ideas, principled leadership and a compelling cause...Our goal is not just to win, but to be worthy of winning.

“This is a great nation with a great mission…And so tonight, as the party of Lincoln, Reagan… we begin our campaign to restore the adventure of the American Dream… Only democracy has shown itself true to the hopes of humanity.

“Democratic capitalism is not just the hope of wealth, but the hope of justice. When we look into the face of poverty, we see pain, despair and need. But, above all, in every face, we must see the image of God. The Creator of All has planted the seed of creativity in us all, the desire within every child of God to work and build and improve our lot in life, and that of our families and those we love…And in our work, in the act of creating that is part of all labor, we discover that part within ourselves that is divine. I believe the ultimate imperative for growth and opportunity is to advance human dignity.

“Dr. Martin Luther King believed that we must see a sleeping hero in every soul. America must establish policies that summon those heroes and call forth the boundless potential of the human spirit. But our full potential will never be achieved by following leaders who call us to timid tasks and diminished dreams.

“Every generation faces a choice: hope or despair - to plan for scarcity or to embrace possibilities. Societies throughout history believed they had reached the frontiers of human accomplishment. But in every age, those who trusted the divine spark of imagination discovered that vastly greater horizons lay ahead…Americans do not accept limits; we transcend them. We do not settle; we succeed…

“To me, faith, family and freedom are the greatest gifts of God to humanity…

“Our friends in the other party say the economy is moving forward, and it is. But it is moving like a ship dragging an anchor, the anchor of high taxes, excessive regulation and big government…They say that is the best we can hope for. But that is because they have put their entire trust in government rather than people - a government that runs our lives, our businesses, our schools. You see, they don't believe in the unlimited possibilities that freedom brings.

“The Democratic Party today is not democratic. They're elitists - they don't have faith in the people. They have faith in government. That is why they raised taxes on the middle class. That is why they tried to nationalize our health-care system… That is the problem with all elitists, they think they know better than the people - but the truth is, there is a wisdom and intelligence in ordinary women and men far superior to the greatest so-called experts…

“Our first step will be to balance the budget…balancing the budget while cutting taxes is just a matter of presidential will. If you have it, you can do it…We're going to take the side of the worker, the saver, the family and the entrepreneur. The American people can use their money more wisely than can government. It's time they had more of a chance, and we will give them that chance…

“In the middle of a technological revolution that is transforming the world in which we live - how can it be that so many families find themselves struggling just to keep even, just to get by? As long as it takes two earners to do what one earner used to do, how can we say this economy is good enough?

“Our tax cut means that parents will have more time to spend with their children - and with each other. It means that a working parent can afford to take a job that lets them be home when the kids get back from school. It means that the struggling, single mother in the inner city will find it easier to work her way off welfare.

“And we cannot forget that single mother and her children. American society as a whole can never achieve the outer-reaches of potential, so long as it tolerates the inner-cities of despair.
Recently I read the account by a reporter of his conversation with a ten-year-old child at Henry Homer public housing in Chicago. As the reporter told it in his book "I asked (the boy) what he wanted to be. `If I grow up, I'd like to be a bus driver,' he told me. If, not when. At the age of ten, (he) wasn't sure he'd even make it to adulthood."

“Think how much poorer our nation is, deprived of that child's future and those like him. Think how much richer our nation will be when every child is able to grow up to reach his or her God-given potential. Including those who come to America from other countries. My friends, we are a nation of immigrants. The former president of Notre Dame University, Father Ted Hesburgh, said the reason we must close the backdoor of illegal immigration is so that we can keep open the front door of legal immigration -and keep the light of opportunity lifted beside the golden door.
Our goal is not just a more prosperous America but a better America. An America that recognizes the infinite worth of every individual and, like the Good Shepherd, leaves the ninety-nine to find the one lost lamb.

“An America that honors - in all its institutions - the values that mothers and fathers want to pass on to her children. An America that makes the ideal of equality a daily reality - equality of opportunity, equality in human dignity, equality before the laws of man as well as in the eyes of God. An America that transcends the boundaries between races with the revolutionary power of a simple, yet profound idea - love thy neighbor as thyself.

“We must remember all that is at stake in America's cultural renewal - not just the wealth of our nation but its meaning…Today, more than ever before, American ideals and ideas grip the imaginations of women and men in every corner of the globe. Isn't it exciting to think, it's 1776 all over the world…President Reagan spoke of America as a shining city on a hill, a light unto the nations. In decades past, so many of those who looked for our light did so from behind the walls and barbed wire of tyrannical regimes. Now, because the American people stood strong, those people are free.

“But freedom is never guaranteed - and our nation and its president must be strong enough to stand up for freedom against all who would challenge it. A world of peace. A world of hope. This is what America's economic and cultural renewal means at home and around the globe.
This is what our cause is all about…

“Thank you and God bless America.”