Bush's Philly Makeover;That's Reality

Bush's Philly Makeover; That's Reality

The highlights of the GOP convention last week? Gov. George W. Bush's acceptance speech, well-written and delivered with more panache than anybody would've expected two months ago, was a spike through the black heart of Vice President Al Gore's meandering presidential campaign. Almost as effective, at least to this viewer, was the conclusion to Monday's program: the grainy black-and-white video of a young Kate Smith singing "God Bless America" while the giddy delegates filed out of the Philadelphia hall and toddled off to the corporate parties that fuel both the Republican and Democratic quadrennial galas.

And then, three nights later, the Texas Governor stood and enumerated 21st-century themes, finally shedding his image as a "lightweight"?even to some of the 15,000 predominantly liberal journalists who attended the convention, complaining all the while about the lack of "news" but not missing the booze & gossip fest for all the scoops in the world.

Bush came across as a man who didn't thirst for the presidency. He wasn't "raised" for the job like his opponent; nor did he calculate his every public statement since the age of eight, as did our current and corrupt chief executive, Bill Clinton. One of Bush's most effective lines in the speech, which offered praise to Clinton while simultaneously slitting his throat, was: "Our current president embodied the potential of a generation. So many talents. So much charm. Such great skill. But in the end, to what end? So much promise to no great purpose."

Clinton had proved his still-adolescent approach to life just a few days earlier when he complained that his critics were intent on crushing the First Lady's doomed Senate candidacy in New York. During a television interview in Tampa on July 31, Clinton said: "It hurts me...everybody that always hated me all those years and were so mean to me, they've all transferred all their anger to [Hillary Clinton] now. It's almost as if they've got one last chance to beat me." As usual, everything is about him. It hasn't occurred to the President that his wife's adversaries have enough reasons to oppose her campaign against Rick Lazio.

Also, isn't it ludicrous that a 53-year-old man, the leader of the free world, is complaining about the opposition being "mean" to him? Aww, chubby Billy, have some cocoa and everything will be okeydokey.

Of course there were catcalls that Bush didn't offer substance in his remarks to the GOP delegates, just a shrewd series of jabs at the current administration. This is completely untrue: the Governor said he'd lower tax rates; sign a bill banning "partial-birth abortion"; strengthen Social Security; and redefine the current concept of education in this country. My chief complaint about the convention was that the meticulous planners didn't include at least a brief tribute to the brave House managers who argued for Clinton's removal from office after he was impeached. True, Democrats might've seized on this moment, but surely a nod to James Rogan, who's waging an uphill battle in California to keep his House seat, would've been appropriate. And Henry Hyde, Lindsey Graham, Asa Hutchinson, etc., deserved a round of applause for their profiles in courage.

There was a lot of bitter hoopla in the media about the admittedly gooey parade of blacks, Latinos, Asians, etc., center stage in Philadelphia; the obvious preference was for bitter walkouts over abortion, Pat Buchanan-style tirades about immigration and homosexuality and Sen. John McCain making a few off-color jokes about old folks who suffer from Alzheimer's disease. Not only would such divisive battles provide better soundbites and lead paragraphs for the well-feted hacks who clogged the city, but tremendous ammunition would be handed to Gore, who needs all the help he can get: if the Veep doesn't start convincing voters soon that he's nothing more than a Clinton-clone creep, next year will find him shooting hoops with former Rep. Tom Downey and doing lobbying work for the tobacco industry.

One statistic was cited over and over by the mostly cable pundits over the four days: the simple fact that the percentage of black delegates at the GOP convention this year was no larger than that of President Bush's abysmal Houston session in '92. True enough. But I believe Gov. Bush when he says he wants a more inclusive Republican Party. That's why he addressed the NAACP gathering in Baltimore last month?an event the doddering '96 nominee, Bob Dole, boycotted, knowing that he'd be met with a tepid response.

Some say that Bush's nod toward minorities is all charade, an attempt to soften his image and reach the swing independent white voters in the suburbs. That kind of reaction is understandable: remember, Bill Clinton has squandered his presidency in an attempt to find love from every American, whether an indigent black family in Georgia whose pain he feels, or Hollywood moguls or Wall Street financiers to whom he'll confess that taxes should be cut and that Big Government is an antiquated theory.

However, a Republican Party that begins at this late date (at least since the late-1950s) with little support from the black community, in particular, has to start somewhere. It's my bet that if Bush is elected, a concerted effort will be made to recruit qualified minority candidates?at all levels of government?who share at least the bulk of the new president's beliefs. When Clinton was elected in '92, he promised a cabinet that would "look like America." It's true that he tapped many blacks (some of dubious credentials, like the late Ron Brown) and women, but I had no idea at the time that most United States citizens were wealthy lawyers. It's likely a Bush administration will include Colin Powell as secretary of state, Condoleezza Rice as national security adviser, as well as Hispanics and Asians in other key posts. I think it's guaranteed that the new attorney general will not be chosen by a bitter first lady hungry for her own slice of the White House; indeed, if you can't instantly think of 1000 men or women who'd be an improvement over the puppet Janet Reno for that position, you must've had a very late night.

This is not to suggest that George W. Bush will be robbing from the intellectually bereft Rainbow Coalition, which is still scandalously run by the country's First Uncle Tom, Jesse Jackson. Jackson, who shamelessly tied his fortunes to Clinton and Gore, even after the President signed a welfare bill that most of the "Reverend's" constituents found appalling, is a creature of the past, almost as extinct as a Nehru jacket. He's a pitiful, shameless huckster who appeals to the worst instincts of liberals. God only knows how Jackson has struck it rich, but he's certainly not representative of the people he claims to lead. Ever since he appeared on a tv show the morning after Martin Luther King Jr. was murdered in 1968, still wearing a bloody shirt, Jackson has done nothing to unify the country. Like Clinton, he craves attention, even if he contradicts a statement he made just a week earlier. Worse, he's spawned other hatemongers, New York's Al Sharpton only the most notorious example.

In fact, if dignified liberals are intent on creating a movement that might achieve their desired goals, a smart strategy would be to start building now, even if it means taking the heretical Democratic position of abandoning Al Gore's bandwagon to More Lies and Broken Promises. Vote for Ralph Nader this year and then move on to the 2002 and 2004 elections. If Kweisi Mfume and Paul Wellstone or Russell Feingold joined forces to create a third party for the next presidential race, they'd be able to build a coalition that would be truly competitive.

So now it's on to Los Angeles to see if Gore can put Humpty Dumpty back together again. Sen. Joseph Lieberman is a good choice for his runningmate, far better than the showboat John Kerry of Massachusetts. Lieberman's a man of conviction, which is the more apparent when compared to Gore, and his scolding of Clinton during the Lewinsky scandal is a plus for the ticket. That he eventually voted to acquit the tarnished President is no badge of honor, but it's not as if any other Democratic senator stood up for justice during that farce.

Gore hasn't reacted to Bush's temporary poll-vault very well. He's still not sure which disguise to use for the campaign, hopping from Hamptons fundraisers to poor neighborhoods without seeming to notice the dichotomy. My favorite Gore quote was from last Saturday, when he spoke in front of a group of Chicago firefighters. "I know we're starting out behind," Gore said. "I'm here today to serve notice: this is Day 1 of the fight for working families. And with your help, we're going to win it."

Correct me if I'm wrong, but I thought "Day 1 of the fight for working families" began on Jan. 20, 1993, at the first hour of the Clinton-Gore administration.

August 7

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