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 | KEMP FIRES UP THE GOP
AUGUST 12, 1996TRANSCRIPT |
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A supply-side economist, a moderate, a conservative christian, all three agree that Jack Kemp is the right choice for vice-president. Join Margaret Warner to find out what it is about the former quarterback and politician that has such divergent GOP members excited about the Kemp addition to Bob Dole's presidential ticket.
A RealAudio version of this discussion about a possible Kemp vice presidency is available.
The Online NewsHour presents full coverage of the Republican National Convention in San Diego, including delegate interviews, regional analysis, interactive forums, and political retrospectives.
MARGARET WARNER: The first sight the delegates here in San Diego
had of Bob Dole's vice-presidential choice came yesterday. Jack Kemp and his wife, Joanne, joined the Doles for a rally on the waterfront near the convention center.
JACK KEMP: I think you know that I didn't ask for the honor of being Bob Dole's running mate. I didn't pursue it. I didn't expect it. And I really admire all of the other great men and women that Bob Dole had to consider in our party. But I'll admit when Bob asked me to run on his ticket I said yes faster than the Democrats can raise taxes. There's been some kibbitzing and
criticism of our plans to both balance the budget and give long overdue tax relief to the families and workers of America. The President has said he's unalterably opposed. His advisers have said it can't be done. They don't know Bob Dole and they don't know Jack Kemp either. (applause) With the pro-growth Republican Congress, balancing the budget while cutting taxes is a manner of presidential will. If you have it, you can do it. Bob Dole has the will. Bob Dole will do it. (cheers) I am particularly excited that an even bolder proposal with a down payment of a tax cut is a down payment on real reform for the first time on a tax code that is hopelessly flawed, unambiguously at fault with the American dream, and Bob Dole's vision is to start with a blank slate, to create a fair, flatter, simpler tax code to carry us into the 21st century to unimagined prosperity and make sure it's pro-family, pro-growth.
It is time to release the great potential of human freedom and the American people and that's what Bob Dole will do for each and every one of you and our people in this country. (applause) Here's what a Bob Dole White House will mean to you and your family--more money in your pocket and your savings account, more jobs in your community, more hope for those who've been left behind, and more opportunity for people across this country, from the barrio of California and to the ghetto in New York, to this country from Russell, Kansas, Buffalo, New York, here in San Diego, we're going to create a zone of opportunity from sea to shining sea. That's what Bob Dole has in store for the American family. Ladies and gentlemen, we want a net of welfare and safety under which people should not be allowed to fall. Well, we're going to work on building a ladder of opportunity upon which every American can climb. That's what it means to be a Bob Dole Republican.
MARGARET WARNER: Now for three views on what Jack Kemp brings to the Republican ticket. They come from Rep. Nancy Johnson of Connecticut, who served with Kemp in the House, Pat Robertson, president and founder of the Christian Coalition, who ran against Kemp for the Republican presidential nomination in 1988, and Vin Weber, a former congressman who
co-founded the public policy group Empower America with Kemp. He's now a co-chairman of the Dole campaign. Welcome, all of you.
VIN WEBER, Bob Dole said he wanted a ten in choosing a vice-presidential running mate. Kemp's a 10?
VIN WEBER, Co-Chair, Dole-Kemp Campaign: At least a 10.
MARGARET WARNER: I mean, why?
VIN WEBER: I honestly I think I've asked some of my Democrat friends with longer memories if they can remember a convention where the vice-presidential choice had such a powerful impact in either party in any of our lifetimes, and all of them have told me no, with the possible exception of Hubert Humphrey helping out Lyndon Johnson, who was going to win anyway. But Jack Kemp first of all is in line with the conservative economic and social thinking of the Republican Party.
But he also has sort of a boundless optimism and energy about him that is really characteristic maybe of a Humphrey on the Democrat side, or at least in terms of the optimism of a Reagan of many years ago, and the Republican Party wants that very badly, and he's able to reach out into communities where the Republican Party ought to be competitive but just hasn't been for a long time, whether it's laboring people, poor people, people of color, and it's just energized this party more than any of us would have imagined. I'm a great friend of his. I'm glad that he's on the ticket, but I never would have predicted that it would have been such a positive event to put him on as vice-president.
MARGARET WARNER: Congresswoman, how do social moderates in a party like yourself view Jack Kemp?
REP. NANCY JOHNSON, (R) Connecticut: I like Jack Kemp. First of all, he's the first Republican that put cities on the Republican agenda. He loves cities. He understands that if
America lets her cities rot at the core, America will go down. He understands cities. He understands the people who live in them. He understands people of all races, people who work hard, and he's always spoken to them as equals and for their rights. Jack Kemp is not only about opportunity in America, he's also about equality, and justice. And lastly, he's enthusiastic. He loves politics, and he loves government, and he firmly believes, as I do, that good government creates a society of opportunity, equality, and justice.
MARGARET WARNER: PAT ROBERTSON, how do social conservatives and religious conservatives regard him?
PAT ROBERTSON, Christian Coalition: Well, we had a meeting yesterday of some 500 of the delegates who are with the Christian Coalition, and we had a survey, and the unanimous with two or three exceptions, opinion, is that they're extremely excited about this choice. It seems that this energized people from every spectrum in the Republican Party, and I'm astounded. I agree with Vin. He's bumped 8 percent. He said he wanted 8 points in the polls overnight is extraordinary. It just never has happened before in our history.
MARGARET WARNER: Now there was a story in Newsweek Magazine this morning that said you had actually sought assurances from the Dole campaign that Kemp wasn't on the list, is that true?
PAT ROBERTSON: That's not true. I've never discussed Kemp. Nobody ever thought he would be a player. I've talked to Sen. Dole about a number of choices, and I thought there were three or four that they were zeroing in on, and Kemp was never mentioned, so this, you talk about a Hail Mary pass, he pulled one, and I think the American people wanted a President who could take bold, decisive action, and that's what that's done for Dole. It says this man will take chances, he'll get out of the box, and do something, and it's quite unorthodox, in my opinion.
MARGARET WARNER: How do you explain, though, that when Jack Kemp's so out of step in a way with the platform certainly, affirmative action, on immigration, on trade, that he still is energizing the base, the delegate base here?
REP. NANCY JOHNSON: See, that's what I like about it. What Dole is saying is I'm not only going to govern, I'm going to govern with a vital discussion. I'm going to have different points of view in there. I like--I agree with Jack Kemp on a lot of those points. And I like knowing that there will be a rich, diverse conversation. And as a pro-choice Republican, even though Jack's not pro-choice, it says to me, we are an open party, this is going to be a vital discussion, that all points of view are going to be on the table.
MARGARET WARNER: But does it say to you it is an open party, and does it say the same thing it says to her?
PAT ROBERTSON:
I think the point is open, there's no question about it. I mean, there's a great deal of tolerance, and we want tolerance, and of all points of view, and I think that's fundamental. We want an open party, inclusion and exclusion. The only thing about Jack Kemp--and I think Vin knows it and I know it because I ran against him--he's a very independent guy, and the question is: Is he going to be the blocker, or does he want to be the quarterback?
VIN WEBER: That's exactly right, but Pat, I think that speaks so strongly to Sen. Dole, because he knows that about Jack Kemp and he is so secure and so obviously happy about the fact that he's put someone on his ticket who is not a rubber stamp or a carbon copy but who brings his own set of strengths and personality and energy to both this ticket and ultimately to the administration, it's great for Kemp but let's give the guy who picked him some credit. This speaks volumes about Bob Dole.
PAT ROBERTSON: I think more than anything, it says this man is qualified to take the decisions that are necessary to be President of the United States. That's what it says.
VIN WEBER: That's exactly right. It was an executive decision.
PAT ROBERTSON: Sure.
MARGARET WARNER:
VIN WEBER: Of course. The occupant of the Oval Office today ran for President promising a tax cut and delivered a tax increase. We understand why the American people are cynical. We don't expect to win the argument about the tax plan today or tomorrow. We expect to win it by November, and the best evidence of that is Gov. Christie Whitman in New Jersey who ran on a tax-cutting platform. I was with her a couple of days ago at the Republican Governors Association Meeting, and she was quite eloquent in saying, people don't believe you right out of the chute, but if you stick with that plan, and articulate it and defend it up to election day, people want smaller government and lower taxes, and we're confident that they're going to vote for Republicans based on that and the other issues that we're standing for in this election.
REP. NANCY JOHNSON: And the fact is that the Republicans House and Republican Senate for two years now have cut taxes, cut spending more, and cut the deficit. We have done all three of those, and we--by the time the election rolls around, we'll have all those Republican candidates and incumbents out there showing the people exactly how it could be done.
MARGARET WARNER: Let me ask you to answer, PAT ROBERTSON's question, though, about Jack Kemp's willingness to be the blocker, not the quarterback, you've known him a long time.
VIN WEBER: Oh, he will be. He is a free spirit, and he's going to be interesting for you folks
to cover, I have no doubt about it, but he does understand the team and he was in our leadership when I was in the House and he managed to take orders from our leader, Bob Michels, quite well, and he managed to work in the Bush administration quite well, and I have no doubt that he's going to, he's going to back up Bob Dole probably better than somebody that thought that their role was to keep quiet and out of sight and be a rubber stamp. It's going to be a marvelous ticket, and isn't it great that Nancy and I and Pat all agree on that, and that's amazing. You didn't think it's possible.
REP. NANCY JOHNSON: One last thing about Dole. Remember, he's worked with a room full of quarterbacks.
VIN WEBER: That's right.
REP. NANCY JOHNSON: And out of all those quarterbacks, he has gotten action in the public interest. He is comfortable with differences of opinion. He is comfortable with strong people, outspoken people, people that differed with him, and that was one of his--part of his greatness as a leader of the Senate, and that was part of his greatness as President.
MARGARET WARNER: But do you all think that Jack Kemp is comfortable with being a champion or salesman for things he disagrees with?
PAT ROBERTSON: He's going to have to be. He's 61 years old. He's lived around Dole a long time. We ran both for the presidency in 1988, so he understands the commitment he's making. He's not some ingenue coming on the scene for the first time. He knows what he says and he said it so publicly he's bound by it. He's going to have to--if there's one thing I think we ought to point out, the average family of four is spending more money in taxes than they do on food, shelter, and clothing. They are burdened down with taxes, and the idea of this as some big tax cut for the rich is utter nonsense. I mean, we've got to cut taxes on these people that are going to hurt him.
MARGARET WARNER: We're going to have to leave it there. Thank you all very much.
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