Shh, Don't Wake the GOP
Posted Tuesday, Aug. 1, 2000, at 11:11 PM ETPHILADELPHIA--You thought last nightnbsp;was dull? Last night was a roller coaster off the tracks compared to tonight's show, which attained a level of deep moderation not seen since the Ford presidency. The nadir, in fact, was New York Gov. George Pataki's tribute to President Gerald R. Ford. Ford, Pataki asserted, "renewed America's confidence." In the Ford years, he continued, "America's mood brightened ... we regained confidence." This was followed by a video tribute that highlighted such decisive moments in the Ford presidency as the Mayaguez incident, when Ford acted decisively and ... you guessed it, "restored our country's confidence." The video was followed by a spontaneous demonstration during which the delegates chanted, "Jer-ry, Jer-ry, Jer-ry."
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StumbleUponAlmost as moving was the video tribute to President George Bush, which after spending several minutes on the Persian Gulf War and Barbara Bush's efforts to advance literacy, seemed to run out of anything to add to the list of accomplishments. Bush's other great presidential accomplishments, apparently, were signing the Clean Air Act and the Americans With Disabilities Act. All hail Bush, the great regulator of small business! After Powell's speech last night, you have to wonder what it would take to actually draw a negative or hostile reaction from this Prozac-addled party. I'm not sure anything, short of a call for higher capital-gains taxes, would rouse the delegates from their satisfied slumber. McCain, a good soldier at long last, didn't even try.
There is, of course, old-fashioned political animosity in the hall, but it's deeply sublimated. You heard it early this evening in the extended demonstration for Rick Lazio, the guy running against you-know-who. And you catch a little blast of it every time someone utters a phrase originated by John McCain that has become one of the convention's top clichés, "restore honor and dignity to the White House." Translated, this means: Give that child-molesting creep a one-way bus ticket back to Arkansas. But you won't hear anyone here come out and say it, not in so many words.
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Reader Response from The Fray:
Interesting that for your "translation" you picked the one sexually predatory behavior I can think of that our esteemed President hasn't been publicly accused of having committed.
--Zoomer
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The dull proceedings at the Republican convention have proven their absolute need to embrace the Log Cabin Republicans. The most memorable image to flash in front of my eyes was Barbara Bush's disastrously hideous dress, that made her look like a low-rent retired drag queen. Log Cabin members should take note and offer fashion advice to party members. What's a party to do with no gay friends!
--Will Hickling
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I loved your piece on the Prozac Republicans. I think the Republican Convention does need some spice to it--like talking about Clinton and Gore's criminal conduct the last seven and a half years. Or they could spice it up with Monica and Bubba's adventures. You are correct. The Republicans could really spice up their convention. However, they have much more ethics than the Clinton-Gore administration could ever dream of having.
--David Landrum
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The Republicans have one saving grace and that's the fact that they're terrible liars party-wise. Is anyone really fooled by the lip-service about moderation? Judge by voting record: that's all you need to know. Bush is a bald-faced opportunist: He doesn't want to change the party, he wants to bend whichever way the winning wind blows. If there were a national mood of conservatism he'd be trumpeting his conservative values right now, not moderation. If Gore is smart he'll immediately claim the middle ground, defend it through the debates and call his bluff.
--Michael Murray
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Condoleeza Rice was great! What an amazing woman she is. We'll keep an ear out for her. She just gained a few million fans I believe. If she is all that she appears to be, it is about time--she is brilliant. We are woefully lacking in women in politics at the level that is likely in her future. I don't care what party she runs for, my eye is on her.
--Marylb
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