Oll-ieee! Chant Dominates Young GOP Convention

Oll - ieee! Oll - ieee! Oll - ieee!

The roar reverberated through a convention hall this weekend as, one after the other, six Republicans who would be President came to deliver praise of Lt. Col. Oliver L. North.

An appreciative audience of 600 delegates to the conservative-leaning Young Republican National Federation heard Vice President George Bush, Senate Minority Leader Bob Dole of Kansas and four other leading GOP presidential aspirants find their own way to draw themselves close to the party’s newest glamour figure. And the delegates, aged 18 to 40, stood and responded, even if their heads throbbed from partying the night before.

Some compared the chant to being ringside at a 1970s prizefight with the rhythmic roar, Ali! Ali! Ali! “ for the heavyweight boxing hero, Muhammad Ali.

Among major GOP contenders, only former Delaware Gov. Pierre S. (Pete) du Pont IV skipped the convention of grass-roots activists from all 50 states.

Here is a sampler of what the six others said to the conventioneers and at other Seattle appearances this weekend:

Dole joked: “I think it has a good ring to it--the Dole-North ticket.”

He added, more seriously: “It’s no longer unusual to hear talk of moral values and heroism. We’ve been listening to a hero all week long in Washington, D. C. . . . Ollie’s been shredding lawyers all week.”

Oll - ieee! Oll - ieee! Oll - ieee!

Rep. Jack Kemp of New York said: “Ollie North, to be blunt about it, has done more to show the American people why there should be funding for the freedom fighters in Nicaragua than the State Department has been able to do in six years.”

Vice President Bush declared that “out in the country, the response has been significant” to North’s week of testimony before Congress. He cited calls to the White House that were reportedly running 25-to-1 in North’s favor. “And that reflects the views of the American public,” Bush shouted.

Oll - ieee! Oll - ieee! Oll - ieee!

Bush also addressed the matter of shredding. “I shred documents. I have a shredder. It sits next to my desk at home. I go back remembering when people used to go through people’s garbage cans.”

Laxalt Finds Reassurance

Former Nevada Sen. Paul Laxalt on North: “The praise he is receiving is more than deserved. But what has really come through, aside from the merit or demerit of the (Iran- contra) plan and all that, is the fact--and this is reassuring to me--is that basic values like honesty, patriotism, subscribing to principle are not passe.

“The vast majority of American citizens consider that to be a vital element of American society today. And that’s what Ollie North has been about this last week.”

Retired Gen. Alexander M. Haig Jr.: “He’s a courageous young Marine.”

Oll - ieee! Oll - ieee! Oll - ieee!

“He’s a friend of yours too, I see,” Pat Robertson, the evangelist, declared as the crowd cheered for North.

“We’re told this is a scandal.” Robertson said. “The scandal is the fact that the Democratic-controlled Congress and liberal media don’t want to lift a finger to relieve Communist oppression.”

Take to the Streets

The biannual convention of the organization also took its support for North to the streets of Seattle in face-to-face confrontation with 200 assorted protesters.

Oll - ieee! Oll - ieee! Oll - ieee!

The protesters outside the convention hotel responded with their own chant: Jail! Jail! Jail!

There was competition as well in the signs and button department during the three-day convention. The most talked about anti-North placard outside the hotel was a takeoff from the title of a newly released Vietnam War movie, “Full Metal Jacket.” It read: “Ollie North Full Metal Jackass.”

Inside the convention hall, a T-shirt reading “Oliver L. North, American Hero” sold well at $12. But it did not move as fast as a $10 shirt that made light of the whole field of GOP contenders.

It read: “He’s tan, rested and ready. Nixon in 88.”