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07/28/2003 Archived Entry: "from the stupid party files"

FROM THE STUPID PARTY FILES - RESCUING DEFEAT FROM THE JAWS OF VICTORY AGAIN: As Jeremy Lott notes in a great American Specator On-Line piece on the Gray Davis recall effort, California Republicans seem to be intent on blowing a once-in-a-lifetime second chance to reclaim power and oust the nation's worst governor. The GOP is failing to coalesce around a single candidate while a whole host of spoilers jump in who might actually make Davis look good. When Lott says California's politics are so dysfunctional they're practically Canadian, I'm not sure whether Canadians or Californians should be more insulted.

It's hard to believe that I was once a huge booster of Jack Kemp. He seemed to me like a great conservative who could broaden the Reagan coalition across racial lines. I'm almost embarrassed to say that if you had asked me back in the heady days of 1994 what my dream ticket for the GOP in 1996 would be, I would have answered Kemp and Colin Powell.

That said, I'll be very surprised if he runs for governor. When he was in Congress, hee wouldn't run for a higher leadership position than House Republican Conference chairman even though his colleagues wnated him to. He wouldn't run for governor of New York when the party asked him to in either 1990 or 1994. Ditto when he was asked to run for Senate. He wouldn't run for president when he was the only conservative who could have conceivably united the right and beaten Bob Dole in 1996. And he wouldn't lift much of a finger to help Dole win when he was nominated for vice president that year. The Chavez thing is just the latest example of bizarre political instincts from him since that disastrous run.

Replies: 1 Comment

James, I was once a huge Kemp fan myself. I even interviewed the man who actually came across as a nice guy. I have written it all off as a youthful indiscretion, so don't feel bad.

Jack, I think, got carried away cheerleading for tax cuts and the gold standard and being buddy-buddy with Democrats. I think of him as perpetually trapped in the '80s.

Posted by Izzy @ 07/28/2003 07:09 PM EST