Roanoke Times
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: THURSDAY, October 13, 1994 TAG: 9412020012
SECTION: NEIGHBORS PAGE: W22 EDITION: METRO
SOURCE: BRIAN KELLEY STAFF WRITER
DATELINE: BLACKSBURG LENGTH: Medium
Kemp, a potential 1996 presidential candidate, called the 9th District race the most important in Virginia and possibly in the South. That's because a GOP victory would displace "a liberal Democrat who votes with Bill Clinton 95 percent of the time," Kemp said.
(According to the 1993 Congressional Quarterly Almanac, Boucher voted with the president 85 percent of the time last year.)
Fast, 33, is a Bluefield College mathematics professor who is making his first bid for elected office against six-term Rep. Rick Boucher, D-Abingdon. Boucher, 48, holds a significant advantage in fund raising and name recognition and has criticized Fast for running a negative campaign.
While Kemp is a former pro football quarterback and Fast a scholarly Ph.D. from Tazewell, they both have working-class roots. Kemp noted that both his father and Fast's drove trucks for a living.
Kemp, the former secretary of Housing and Urban Development, linked their backgrounds with the need to expand the Republican Party's appeal to working people of all races and ethnicities. He drew parallels between Fast and a black Republican congressional challenger in Oklahoma. He told the all-white crowd of 140 New River Valley Republicans in Blacksburg that there are 24 black and 17 Hispanic GOP candidates running for Congress this fall.
"The reason that we've not held the House of Representatives for 40 out of 40 years is because we've yet to have a positive, conservative, bleeding heart equality-of-opportunity message, but we've got it this year and that's why I think we'll win," Kemp said.
Mixing entrepreneurial economics with evangelical allusions, Kemp said the GOP must reach out "to every single child of God" and overcome evil with a message of good ideas. Such a message should highlight opportunities for the poor and should put free markets to work by increasing competition for the public schools and privatizing public housing. He saluted Fast and Rep. Bob Goodlatte, R-Roanoke, who also spoke, for having "a heart for the poor."
Fast has defined his key campaign issues by aligning himself with the GOP's "Contract with America," a pledge signed Sept. 27 by congressional challengers to cut taxes, increase defense spending, balance the federal budget and support term limits. Kemp has publicized several more sweeping "amendments" to that agenda, but conceded they would need a Republican in the White House. He said he wouldn't talk about the presidential race until after next month's midterm elections.
"Take care of '94 and '96 will take care of itself," Kemp told the luncheon crowd.
Not normally an emphatic speaker, Fast caught the bug from Kemp and Goodlatte. "The greatest enemy of the family today is the federal government's tax structure," Fast said. Pounding the lectern, he said, "I want [families] to keep what they earn and not send it away to Washington for their ridiculous programs and projects."
Kemp, who met Fast for the first time just before the speech, said he liked what he'd heard. Kemp linked Fast to what he described as a nationwide movement for lower taxes, limited government and increased economic opportunity for the poor.
"Now, if you're undertaxed, don't vote for Steve," Kemp said. "You'll be disappointed."
"He would be like Bob Goodlatte," Kemp said. "A positive, constructive conservative."
Kemp spoke at a Blacksburg luncheon after stumping in Charlottesville Monday morning for George Landrith, who is taking on 5th District Congressman L.F. Payne, D-Nelson County. Kemp was to appear in Chesapeake Monday night for the 4th District GOP challenger, the Rev. George Sweet, who is running against Rep. Norman Sisisky.
Keywords:
POLITICS
by CNB