Brave Voices at a Crucial Point : Republicans Kemp and Bennett stand against the nativist Prop. 187

Too often when the public hopes for light in the campaign season it gets only hot air. William Bennett and Jack Kemp, two leading Republicans and former Cabinet secretaries, provided a refreshing alternative when they stood up against Proposition 187, the state ballot initiative aimed at cutting off public services to illegal immigrants.

In a joint statement, these co-directors of the Washington-based think tank Empower America essentially called the ballot measure what it is--an unconstitutional and nativist reaction to a complex problem, a misconceived measure that carries the potential to spread poison elsewhere and undermine the very spirit of democracy in this country.

Both did their party a great service, by the way, in warning against alienating hard-working and entrepreneurial immigrants, a message that ought to be taken to heart by one very prominent California Republican, Gov. Pete Wilson, a strong supporter of Proposition 187.

Kemp, a former housing and urban development secretary who is widely regarded as a top-tier contender for the 1996 GOP presidential nomination, might have ducked the matter this week when he visited the Nixon Library & Birthplace in conservative Orange County. He did not; instead he engaged the issue directly, answering critics by appealing to an increasingly rare commodity in politics, conscience.

Bennett, a former education secretary and author of the best-selling “The Book of Virtues,” had thought the issue through enough to change his mind.

In politics, there is a time to be silent, and a time to speak out. These two leading conservatives picked their spot well, and gave California voters lured by the quick fix something of great value to think about.