The passing of Jack Kemp on May 2 is a reason to pause and reflect on the impact of his life. A self-avowed “bleeding heart conservative,” he had a profound importance in my life and the lives of many others who labored in the GOP vineyards during his years as a creative thinker and inspirational leader for many conservatives.
Jack Kemp was the original “Energizer Bunny.”
I am often dismayed by some who refer derisively to “bleeding heart liberals,” as though deeply caring about those suffering from life’s afflictions, harshness’s, and injustices is misguided. Jack Kemp proudly adopted the “bleeding heart” description, but applied it differently.
He understood that if your heart is not torn by the plight of many less fortunate among us, and you have no capacity to care about them, you are crippled as a human being.
It is not the “bleeding heart” that merits scorn, but rather what one does and how one approaches public policy and the proper role of governments at various levels that matters. This is where the debate should focus.
I remember a story Jack Kemp used to tell, as I thought about how he might handle the current Democratic PR campaign against the GOP as the “Party of no.”
Kemp related often that after a speech one night to a group in upstate New York about the virtues of the free enterprise system, stock ownership and the debilitating effect of confiscatory tax rates, especially the then excessive tax on capital gains, a young labor union member approached him and thanked him for his views and his fight to make them national policy.
Kemp was puzzled by the concern of a young union member about the capital gains tax and asked him if he owned stock. “No,” the young man replied. Then asked Kemp, “Why are you concerned about the capital gains tax?”
“Because,” the young man replied, “I will own stock one day, as will my children I hope. That is part of the American Dream, and I want you to fight for it.”
Jack Kemp might observe today that saying no to bad legislation is just as important, maybe more so, than saying yes to the good. Often the bad ideas are cloaked with language that superficially conveys the message that if you care about those affected by the legislation, you must support it.
He might remind us that we all care deeply about those who are unemployed, who are losing their homes and who are without health care or trapped in failing schools. All of our “hearts bleed” for today’s victims but our hearts must be equally focused on tomorrow and on the dreams of our children.
Inherent in the notion of an American Dream is a time in the future when your dream is pursued and hopefully realized. The opportunity to pursue it and the possibility of success must be preserved for there to be a Dream.
No caring person can squander that Dream in the present and steal if from the future. Keeping the Dream alive must be part of everything we do.
A good parent knows that saying “no” to short term pleasure is sometimes necessary for long term gain. It is easy to leave the TV on. It is much harder to say “no, do your homework.” Tough love is often saying “no.”
So, when the epithet is hurled by today’s Democratic leaders against the “Party of no,” Jack Kemp’s lessons loom large.
“Yes,” he might say, “we need to borrow some money today that our children must repay, but not this much. We cannot try to fix all the ills of today with our children’s money. We cannot mortgage their future so that their Dreams are imperiled. Our hearts and our minds must focus not just on the present, but on the future. So, we must accept some present shortcomings because our resources are inadequate and we can only spend so much of our children’s money to fix our problems.”
“So, we say ‘no’ because we love our children. We say ‘no’ to keep their Dreams alive. We say “no” with heavy hearts because we care as deeply as anyone about those in need today and we will do everything reasonably possible to help them. But we have limits and those limits include our children’s futures and that is why we say ‘no.’”
Republicans need a modern Jack Kemp. The guy who can change the terms of the debate. Change the headlines from “Republicans unite against stimulus package” to “Republicans unite for our children’s future” or “GOP says ‘no’ to destruction of American Dream” or even “Democrats vote ‘no’ to the hopes and aspirations of America’s children.”
Sure, it’s more complicated than any of these sound bites. How much spending now is necessary to avoid catastrophe and how much is too much and robs future generations unnecessarily. No easy answers here.
Surely, improving health care and the environment and education deserve our best efforts. The hard questions are when, how much, and who decides. In this debate “yes” and “no” are meaningless abstractions devoid of content until tied to particulars.
Still how the debate is framed and who is the messenger really matters. The challenging reality is Republicans are searching for the message and the messenger right now and it shows.
Jack Kemp could frame the debate because he “wore his heart on his sleeve” and he wasn’t afraid to care. His heart “bled” and he said so, but more importantly, he lived it.
He was one of my heroes. I wish he were here to help.
Wyatt Durrette is a Director at DurretteBradshaw, PLC (www.durrettebradshaw.com) and co-founder of the XDL Group. He served three terms in the House of Delegates and was the Republican candidate for Governor in 1985.
Thanks you, Wyatt, for an obviously heartfelt expression. Political leaders as selfless and genuine as Jack Kemp have and are hard to come by.
Jack Kemp was a good man. But I don’t recall him leading the charge against the Bush administration’s deficit spending of our children’s future and tax cuts to the well off while those who are suffering saw their wages contract over the past eight years.
But perhaps you were, Mr Durrette.