THE VIRGINIAN-PILOT
Copyright (c) 1996, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: Tuesday, August 13, 1996 TAG: 9608130011
SECTION: FRONT PAGE: A14 EDITION: FINAL
TYPE: Editorial
LENGTH: 68 lines
National political conventions no longer decide the parties nominees. Their remaining function is as televised pep rallies meant to energize the party faithful and begin selling the ticket to uncommitted voters.
The GOP bash kicked off last night with a stroll down memory lane with former Republican presidents. But the real focus of the week is two nights hence when Bob Dole and his running mate, Jack Kemp, will make their sales pitch in prime time. It's the largest audience they will command until debates with their opponents in the fall.
The selection of Kemp has been generally applauded. Once Dole abandoned his lifelong fiscal conservatism to make supply-side economics the centerpiece of his campaign, he chose that theory's most-enthusiastic advocate for the ticket.
Kemp brings an immediate spark to what has been a sodden campaign. In fact, the first poll results after the announcement showed Dole closing the gap to 10 points behind Clinton.
The appeal of the vice-presidential position for Kemp is obvious. If he campaigns well, he could make himself a front-runner for the GOP's presidential nomination in 2000 whether or not he and Dole win.
Kemp's appeal to the growth-and-optimism wing of the party that was unenthusiastic about Dole as long as he was a deficit hawk can translate not just into votes but into campaign contributions.
And strategists for Dole believe Kemp could make several states that Dole was ceding to the Democrats competitive. As a native Californian, Kemp might even be able to force President Clinton to spend time and money nailing down that biggest of all electoral prizes.
The choice of Kemp is not without a down side. He and Dole have disagreed for years on a variety of issues. Kemp is on the opposite side from Dole and his platform on immigration, affirmative action and other hot-button issues.
Normally this wouldn't matter. The vice-presidential candidate is expected to salute and lead cheers. But Kemp has a long history of failing to pipe down. He bucked Reagan publicly on foreign-policy issues. He exasperated Bush officials by contradicting the boss repeatedly. He has thus acquired a reputation as a loose cannon, not as a team player.
But as the San Diego conclave got under way, the most interesting question was not who was aboard the Dole bandwagon but who wasn't.
Up the coast, Ross Perot was nominating himself to run again. In 1992, he spoke for millions who believed neither major party was being fiscally responsible. But Perot's egotism and eccentricity have alienated many. The question is where Perot voters will go this time. Before Dole's supply-side embrace, they would have been likely to choose him. Now, there's a risk they'll stay home.
For a time, Pat Buchanan intimated that he might pull a Perot and head his own third-party effort. But at a rally Sunday night, Buchanan argued that he has forced Dole to adopt platform language opposing abortion, free trade and immigration. Buchanan urged his dissident brigade to return to the GOP army. He apparently has decided he has nowhere else to go. Will they follow their leader?
Finally, there's the gender gap. Women, especially middle-class, suburban working women, favor Clinton over Dole by a wide margin. Dole's decision to embrace supply-side economics may or may not allay their concerns about economic opportunity. Attacks on the safety net by the Gingrich Congress have troubled many of them. And a party platform taking the Christian Coalition line on social issues doesn't help.
Yet to win in November, Dole and Kemp need to narrow the gender gap and attract the quite-different populist strains represented by Buchanan and Perot without losing traditional conservatives. Their challenge Thursday is to craft an appeal that can unite many disparate conservative factions. It's a tall order. by CNB