Bush Bungles Chance to Corral Reagan Democrats

A Republican Convention is a conclave of people who distrust government, experts, social planners, college professors, the press and anyone else who would presume to tell them what to do. They trust the legal system, religion and their notion of the family to curb or punish any excesses that such unbridled freedom might result in.

The reason abortion is such a problem for Republicans is that individual freedom is placed in conflict with Republican-style religion--the right to an abortion itself is deemed unacceptable by those charged with safeguarding us from excess. So far, it is an inconsistency we have simply decided to live with.

I am not always comfortable with the inconsistencies which such use of “values” to defeat “freedom” causes in my party. But I agree that somebody must try to curb our excesses, and I am totally unwilling to accept the Democratic view that the U.S. government should be trusted with this right.

Anyway, last week, I heard Patrick J. Buchanan tell his supporters to get back in line and save the country from Bill Clinton, I heard Ronald Reagan make a nostalgic plea to the Reagan Democrats to come home, I listened to Jack F. Kemp tell the progressive conservatives to do likewise, and--although none of these speakers spoke for me--by midweek I figured I should come home, too. It was a good feeling because I see nothing believable in Clinton and I don’t believe in the Democratic Party.

I even found myself looking forward with unexpected anticipation to President George Bush’s acceptance speech. It seemed everything bad that needed to be said about Clinton had been said and there were believable hints that the President would finally share his vision of the future. I was convinced that now, with the troops together and ready to march, Bush would tell us where he wished to take the country and what we could do to help him get there.

I guess I had taken to heart the statements made by others during the week that “only a good man can be a good President” and expected to see Bush be a “good man.” I think a “good man” is one who takes a little less credit than he may deserve, has real empathy for people with problems, is not quick to blame others if he may be at fault himself and, if he happens to be President of the United States, has some considerable respect for the office he holds.

Judging by Bush’s performance on Thursday, I would have to conclude that his concept of a “good man” is someone who wanders around the house saying things like “Let me tell you again what I’ve done for this family,” “It’s not my fault” and “If you’d only done as I said, you wouldn’t have that problem, so don’t ask me about it now.”

I’m sure he doesn’t get away with that at home--obviously, Barbara Bush wouldn’t allow it--so I don’t know why he would expect that a majority of the American people would feel compelled to put up with it.

Bush claimed full credit for ending the Cold War (other American presidents and Mikhail S. Gorbachev deserve at least some credit). He said it was not his fault, but entirely that of the Democratic Congress, that there had occurred an increase in deficit spending during his administration. He declared that if Congress had only passed his programs, there now would be plenty of jobs and, presumably everything would be fine. I heard no empathy, no willingness to understand the problems of the people today, no plan as to what we should do next. The only thing I did hear was a small boy begging for trust when it was well remembered that he had broken his pledges before.

As much as I could tell, Bush, who was elected four years ago as the lesser of two evils, now says we should vote for him again because the evil we have is preferable to the evil we will get if we vote for Clinton. Well, I’ll vote to keep the evil we have. But, since we seem to agree that we’re only dealing in evil anyway, I have to wonder whether most Americans would want to at least try a different kind.

I’m sorry, Mr. Bush; I guess I’m always being critical and I know it’s enough for many of my fellow Republicans to simply dine on raw meat. But I could hear many of the Reagan Democrats walking out the door the other night. They don’t think you know the difference between appearing tough and being strong. In fact, a lot of them think that you’re just mean.