Noted Passing of a Big Tent Example
May 3, 2009 – 8:38 amJack Kemp has passed away. Long noted or vilified because of his fiscal conservatism and association with “trickle down” (actually free enterprise) economics Mr. Kemp certainly exemplified the Republicrat “tent”. He was a passionate advocate of using state power to provide economic opportunity to urban areas. He also was an open borders “reformer” proposing guest worker and amnesty immigration programs. He was pretty staunch in his pro-life and strong national defense positions. Having met Mr. Kemp, I can tell you that he tended towards a haughtiness that was off-putting but managed his “blue collar” western New York credentials well.
Far from perfect, it must be noted that Jack Kemp helped architect the critical aspects of the Reagan economic revolution in Congress. He was a high profile advocate of economic empowerment. Despite his statist tending solutions to many things, he did boil his message down to individual acheivement and responsibility. Our thoughts and prayers are with his surviving family. Rest in Peace Jack Kemp.
One Response to “Noted Passing of a Big Tent Example”
Jack Kemp, along with Ronald Reagan and Barry Goldwater, was the reason I became a Republican. He offered optimism coupled with a Boy Scout-like faith in America’s ability to solve its’ problems. Heady stuff for a 16 y/o just discovering politics beyond what was in the news.
I met him in 1986, when I supported his Presidential campaign as a Michigan precinct delegate. (Michigan tried to be ‘first’ in 1988 by having the caucus selection process tied to the 1986 precinct delegate elections.) Rep. Kemp was charismatic and self-assured, and his followers were idealists. On the issues, his replies to my concerns about immigration (open borders), English as our official language (opposed – didn’t think necessary), and civil defense (“a tertiary concern”) was the beginning of my departure from GOP orthodoxy and a journey to the paleo-con right, where I remain.
That said, I value the pics I took of Kemp at the Economic Club of Detroit that winter day, and the memories of my first intra-party battle, as Kemp, unable to out-organize Bush or Pat Robertson, threw his weight behind Bush, making him the eventual winner.
Rest in Peace, Happy Warrior.
By Lloyd on May 3, 2009