Newsgroups: bit.listserv.christia
Date:         Sun, 30 Aug 1992 19:36:58 CST
From:         "William M. Jordan" <IF20159@LATECH.BITNET>
Subject:      GOP Convention: Tues 8-18

Today is going to be another long one.  We had a breakfast/caucus at
7:00 a.m.  The morning session was mostly a series of short speeches by
rising younger members in the party.  Few of them were memorable.  The
galleries were relatively empty, and even many delegates and alternates
skipped the meeting.  The only speech that roused the crowd out of its
slumber was given by Dr. Alan Keyes,  He is a former ambassador, and a
black Republican running for the Senate in Maryland.  He is a very dynamic
speaker, who captured (and held) the crowds attention.

After the morning session, we returned to our hotel and had a chance to
relax for about one hour.  This time greatly refreshed me, and enabled me
to approach the evenings events with more energy than I had the night
before.

Some of our delegation wanted to go the Republican National Coalition for
Life meeting at 4:00 p.m.  This was held at the Wortham Center, a very
fancy place downtown.  At this meeting, a number of prominent pro-life
politicians were to be given awards, thanking them for their work on the
behalf of the unborn.  The main speaker was the talk show host Rush
Limbaugh.  After he finished talking, there were lines for buffet type
food.  The food was good, but you had to eat it standing up, which wasn't
much fun.  The whole affair cost $65, which I though was overpriced.  I paid
the price anyway, because I wanted to see many of the prominent people who
were going to be there.

The Republican National Coalition for Life is an alliance of a number of
pro-life and pro-family groups.  I am not sure who is in overall charge of
it, but standing on the platform together at all times were Phyllis Schlafly,
Pat Robertson, and Jerry Falwell.  The first person to receive an award was
Vice-President Quayle.  He spoke briefly about the need to protect the life of
all Americans.  He also mentioned a need to be concerned about God, the
author of life.  After he spoke, he left before the other awards were given.
Before Quayle left, I got a photograph of him standing next to Schlafly,
Robertson, and Falwell.  Depending on your political persuasian, that is
either a dream team or a nightmare team.

Among the other winners was Jack Kemp (who sent an emissary to pick up his
award) and Congressman Henry Hyde.  After the awards, Rush Limbaugh came up
and spoke.  Many of his comments were about how the liberal media was
distorting what was going on in Houston.  He had watched the previous
night's session on television rather than in the hall itself, and was
angry at what he saw.

It is clear from what Limbaugh said, that I agree with much of what he
believes.  He is also a very clever person, and an excellent communicator.
However, I did not much like his speech.  He seems to be mean spirited in
his attacks on those who disagree with him.  The Republican National
Coalition for Life is composed of groups of people who, for the most part,
have significant spiritual commitments.  Limbaugh's speech seemed lacking
any spiritual content.  I did not leave that meeting very happy about
what had occurred.

As a side note, it surprised me how openly pro-Republican Limbaugh was, and
at how openly so many Republican politicians would identify with him.  I
rather expected both groups to keep a little bit of distance from each
other.  Yet, in contrast, they appear to be openly working with each other.

When we got back in the van to go to the Astrodome, I found that my
negative impression of what had occurred was not unique to me. As far as I
could tell, the people who took the delegation van to this meeting were all
evangelical Christians. We are the sub-group within our delegation most
willing to pay $65 to go to a pro-life meeting.  A number of other people
in the group also had a negative impression of Limbaugh.  Some of the
people in our delegation were also upset that the Operation Rescue people
who came to the meeting were not recognized, nor given any of the awards.
I learned that several of our delegation had participated in rescues with
the Operation Rescue people.  Finally, one of our leaders calmed everyone
down by stating that not all people are called to work in the same way, and
we need to accept other pro-lifers who are working in a different way.
This discussion ended with everyone (but the driver) holding hands and
praying for unity among the pro-life camp.  When we finished praying we
were in sight of the Astrodome.  Someone led us in  a couple of Christian
songs as we were going through the security gates into the Astrodome
parking lot.  A lot of my experiences at this convention were new to me.
However, I never, ever, expected to be in a prayer meeting and sing
Christian songs as we entered the site of the Republican National
Convention.  I hesitated to share the above, for some may think that
the Louisiana delegation is composed of a bunch of kooks.  However, this
group seemed to be normal, ordinary Christians, who have no qualms about
relating the spiritual dimensions of their lives to the political
dimension.

During the evening session, I saw again how much Vice-President Quayle
is willing to identify with conservative Christian leaders (and how
much they are also willing to identify with Quayle).  Pat Robertson
and Jerry Falwell had seats in the Vice-President's box.  Also in the
Vice-President's box was Rush Limbaugh.

This evening included the keynote address, which is supposed to whip us
up into a partisan frenzy, making us excited to go out and fight the
opposition.  However, many of us went into this session unsure of how
any speaker could excite us more than President Reagan did the night
before.  Our mild expectations were fulfilled.  We had two speeches
of significance this evening.  The first one was given by Secretary of
Housing and Urban Development Jack Kemp, the second one was given by
Texas Senator Phil Gramm.  Neither of them came anywhere close to
arousing the emotion the Reagan did the night before.  Most delegates
paid attention to both of these speeches, not for what they might say
about 1992, but to help us decide which one we liked best for 1996.  For
by now it was obvious that Kemp and Gramm are already running for
the 1996 presidential nomination.

Of the two, Kemp's speech was by far the better.  He reminds me a lot of
Ronald Reagan.  He emphasized a positive conservative vision for our
country.  He is absolutely convinced that if we will follow his policies
our economy will improve and all Americans will be better off.  Gramm's
speech was rather boring.  I guess I should have expected that, given he
is, by profession, an economics professor.  He spoke like an economist,
toting up the balance sheets of the two political parties and (surprise!,
surprise!) finding that the Republican balance sheet looked better.   It
is my personal opinion that Kemp helped himself, and Gramm hurt himself
by tonights speeches.  However, I do not think that we should count out
Gramm for 1996 at this time.  He still has several important things on his
side:  he is a very intelligent and determined man who usually gets what he
goes after; and he has lots of well to do supporters who can give him  the
needed money to begin a national campaign.

After the evening session, I went to a nearby hotel where Jack Kemp was
having a rally.  They had us write down our name and address as we went into
the ballroom.  I think that was the real reason for the rally, to get a list
of activist Republican party people who are sympathetic to Kemp.  I had never
been to a rally at 11:00 p.m. before.  Kemp spoke for a few minutes to an
enthusiastic crowd of perhaps 1000 people crowded into the Sheraton Hotel
ballroom.  Of the three 1996 candidates I have hear speak so far (Kemp,
Gramm, and Buchanan), Kemp has impressed me the most.

When Kemp left the podium and came my direction, I got pushed by the crowd
against one of the walls of the ballroom.  I knew this was one of those
temporary walls, and was concerned for a few moments that I (and the wall)
might collapse [it didn't].

Due to the lateness of this rally, I did not get back to my hotel until about
1:30 a.m.  Tomorrow comes Barbara Bush's speech, and the formal renomination
President Bush and Vice-President Quayle.

In Christ, Bill

William M. Jordan            Voice       (318) 257-4304
Mechanical & Industrial      FAX         (318) 257-2562
     Engineering Dept.       Bitnet      IF20159@latech.bitnet
Louisiana Tech University    Internet    jordan@engr.latech.edu
Ruston, LA 71272