1988 REPUBLICAN NATIONAL CONVENTION : N.J. Governor to Give Keynote Address Tonight : GOP Looks to Kean to Offset ‘Massachusetts Miracle’

Soon after learning he would deliver the keynote address at the Republican National Convention, Gov. Thomas H. Kean of New Jersey received a phone call from his neighbor across the Hudson River, Democratic Gov. Mario M. Cuomo of New York, who stirred his own party with passionate oratory in 1984.

Cuomo, the son of immigrants, had advice for Kean, whose father was a congressman, whose grandfather and great-uncle were U.S. senators and who can trace his ancestry to five Colonial governors. The core of Cuomo’s advice: Be yourself.

“Just say the kinds of things you are saying in the state,” Cuomo told Kean, whose ancestors helped settle South Carolina in the early 1700s.

A Lesson Not Lost

If any politician illustrates the power of the keynote as a catapult, it is, of course, Cuomo. That one speech largely caused him to surge into the thick of presidential speculation for four years. It is a lesson not lost on Kean, who will deliver his keynote address tonight.

In deciding on Kean, a 53-year-old patrician politician with the common touch, the Republican Party picked a speaker who can provide contrapuntal themes to the “Massachusetts Miracle” of Gov. Michael S. Dukakis.

If Dukakis can claim economic success in his state, so can Kean. If the Democratic Party can claim the overriding allegiance of black voters, so can Kean, who received about 60% of the black vote and two-thirds of the blue collar vote when he overwhelmingly was reelected governor in 1985.

“We think we are doing a little better than Massachusetts,” he said in a telephone interview. “ . . . We are doing very, very well. We have done it by pursuing a lot of the same kinds of programs that the Republican Party and George Bush are going to talk about.”

In the Republican Party, Kean is a leading practitioner of “the politics of inclusion” (the title of his recent book).

‘Shouldn’t Concede One Vote’

“The lesson is, I believe, in many cases with many conservative approaches, we have been trying to create opportunity to extend programs to all people,” Kean said of his governorship. “George Bush shouldn’t concede one vote to Michael Dukakis. There are no people that can’t be reached.

“The GOP in Washington said don’t go into black areas, it would be a waste of time and don’t go into cities. The first time, unless I cut down on the normal Democratic vote in these areas, I would not have won.”

At the heart of Kean’s own philosophy, and almost sure to find its way into his keynote address, is the belief that government must be compassionate, while preserving and strengthening the options of the private sector.

“Government in America has gotten a bad rap lately, a result of the misguided notion of both its ardent supporters and its vehement detractors,” he wrote in his book. “The supporters believe, wrongly, that government should somehow guarantee each of us a secure and comfortable life. . . .

“The detractors argue, on the other hand, that government by its very nature is bumbling, corrupt and inefficient, and ought to be either ignored or cut back--way back. That too is wrong. Certain desirable goals will always exist in society for which government must take the responsibility.”

Seek to Lure Industries

Working within that framework, the Kean Administration structured a program of urban enterprise zones to bring industries back to blighted areas. Businesses locating in 10 of the state’s most depressed urban neighborhoods receive a tax break.

The Administration has sought to marry inventors and fledgling companies to venture capitalists, creating new jobs. At the same time, every able-bodied welfare recipient, including women with small children, is required to work or attend school. In return, for a year, New Jersey pays for day care, transportation and health care benefits.

Reading scores have improved in New Jersey schools, and the state has instituted a program to take over seriously educationally deficient school districts.

In 1985, Kean signed a bill withdrawing $2 billion in state investments from companies doing business in South Africa.

Kean (pronounced Cane), an Episcopalian, is personally opposed to abortion, but he does not favor a constitutional ban. Under his Administration, the number of prison cells has increased, and during his first term in office, he reinstated the death penalty.

Kean’s first real taste of politics came as a volunteer in his father’s congressional campaign office after graduating from Princeton and serving in the Army. As a child, Kean had overcome a stutter so severe that it caused him to sweat when he was about to be called on in school. One day, his father, Robert Winthrop Kean, had to cancel a scheduled speech and his son stood in. He did well, and that further heightened his confidence.

Rose to Assembly Speaker

Ten years after leaving Princeton, Kean was elected to the New Jersey Assembly. He served for five consecutive terms, rising to become its speaker. In 1981, he was elected governor, defeating Democratic Rep. James J. Florio in a recount by 1,797 votes.

Kean, who holds a master’s degree from Teachers College at Columbia University, has taught prep school and was president of his family’s real estate company before entering politics. He and his wife, Debby, have three children.

Kean works hard with humor to downplay his social standing. At times, when he is introduced as “a descendant of Gov. William Livingston,” New Jersey’s first governor, he will tell the story of the Princeton graduate who applied for a job in a Philadelphia department store. When the personnel manager wrote to one of the young man’s references, he received an answer detailing the applicant’s social credentials and family background dating back to the Pilgrims.

“Sir, I appreciate your trouble, but I think you misunderstood our intentions,” Kean tells audiences the personnel manager wrote back. “We want to employ the young man for business purposes, not breeding purposes.”

Kean researched previous keynote addresses and asked a number of Republican leaders for their suggestions before crafting his own speech.

“I am not as good a speaker as Mario Cuomo,” he said. “I think I have a message. I think I understand the GOP and its traditions and a philosophy of what we want to be to be the governing party to the turn of the century. I am not the most brilliant speaker in the party. He (George Bush) is turning to someone who can take Republican policies and make people’s lives better for them.”