Newsgroups: bit.listserv.christia
Date:         Fri, 28 Aug 1992 09:44:18 CST
From:         "William M. Jordan" <IF20159@LATECH.BITNET>
Subject:      GOP Convention: Monday 8-17

This is one of a series of posts concerning my experiences at the
Republican National Convention in Houston.

We had a breakfast/caucus at 7:00 a.m.  At that time we were told to
expect a possible floor fight on the abortion plank when the session
began at 10:00 a.m.  We were told to be ready for anything, for no-one
really knew what would happen at that time.

I was so excited that I took an early bus to the Astrodome. I walked onto
the convention floor 1  hour before the session  was to begin.  I can't
describe the sensation that went through my heart and mind as I walked
onto the floor for the first time.  I had probably been a political junkie
since 1968 when I (as a teenager) watched both parties conventions gavel
to gavel.  The chance to be part of something historic was tremendously
exciting.  My only other experience that compares with this was when I
gave a seris of evangelistic oriented lectures in what was then the
Soviet Union in December 1989 (specifically Tbilisi, Georgia).

There was an observable tension in the hall during the morning session.
It wasn't that the speeches were memorable (I can't remember anything about
them one week later).  It was that the Republican Party was moving to some
sort of decision on a matter of great national importance.  Many of us
social conservatives had worked to get to the convention for just this
moment.  To me, this was the first of five major events that emotionally
moved me.

The television audience found out before the delegates did that there would
be no floor fight on the abortion plank.  To force a floor debate, the
pro-choice had needed to get a majority vote from six state delegations.
They were unable to do this.  The media later reported that some pro-choice
leaders lobbied their states not to force a floor fight because that might
embarrass the President.  The pro-choice delegates were wearing pro-choice
buttons as well as other buttons such as "Barry's Right" and "Barbara's
Right".  These last two referred to comments by Barry Goldwater and Barbara
Bush that the platform should have no reference to abortion.  The pro-life
delegates were wearing buttons that said "Keep our Winning Platform" and
red cowboy hats provided by the Republican National Coalition for Life.  On
the floor of the convention, I saw a lot more pro-life buttons than pro-choice
buttons.

When it came time to vote on the platform, the only option the pro-choice
delegates had was to vote against its approval (which many of them did). At
the moment of the vote, one of our delegates could not be there and I took
his place.  This meant that I officially voted (by voice vote) on the
platform.  As my previous comments might imply, I voted to adopt the platform.

There has been much made about the conservative nature of this platform. I
agree with Pat Robertson that this is the most conservative overall
Republican Platform of my lifetime.  Some people have complained that the
abortion plan is too extreme.  It should be noted that the abortion plank
is word for word the same as it was in 1984 and 1988.

There have been three questions I have been asked about the abortion
section of the platform.  Do I agree with it?  I do.  Does it represent
the majority opinion of the Republican people of the United States?  I
do not know the answer to that.  Does it represent the majority view of
the convention?  I think the answer to that is a resounding YES.

Several media polls of delegates have reported a small pro-choice
majority (on the order of 55%).  Since I took some of those polls, I think
I have a right to respond.  In some of them, the questions were worded
such as "Do you believe there is ever a right for a woman to have an
abortion?"  Like most delegates, I would permit abortion to preserve the
life of the mother.  However, if I answered yes to that question, I would
be counted in the pro-choice camp  by that newspaper.  These type
questions give a falsely high  pro-choice percentage of the delegates.

Another reason why I think the polls of the delegates were wrong is shown
by the vote in the platform committee.  On the key vote, the committee
voted 84-16 for keeping the pro-life plank.  Some may say that the
platform committee was stacked with pro-life partisans.  I think that
statement is completely true.  However, we need to look at how that
committee was selected.  Each delegation selected two members of the
platform committte from among its own members.  Our delegation had a
pro-life majority and elected 2  pro-life members of the platform
committee.  Other states did the same, electing committee members that
represented the majority views of their delegation.  The 84-16 platform
committee vote indicates that 42 state delegations had pro-life majorities
and 8 state delegations had pro-choice majorities.  If 42 states had
pro-life majorities, I think it is safe to say that the majority of the
delegates themselves were pro-life.

After the morning session, we walked over to a nearby hotel for a free
lunch paid for by an oil company.  Oil is very important to Louisiana,
and the oil companies like to keep Louisiana politicians happy.  Even
though in a sense they were using us, I did not care, for the food was
good (and free).  On the way to the hotel we had to pass some demonstrators
from ACT UP which called us Fascists.  They also had drawings of Pat
Buchanan in a Nazi type uniform (this was before his speech).

The convention session had lasted rather late, so I missed all but the
very end of Pat Robertson's God and Country Rally.  There were more than
1000 people (mostly delegates, alternates, and their families) that
crowded into the Sheraton's ballroom for the rally.   This was set at this
time to celebrate the victory on the platform.  The Vice-President was
there, but left before I could get to the rally.

At 5:00 p.m. I went to a sports arean that is on the Astrodome grounds.  We
were entertained by some famous country singer (since I am not into
country music, I cannot remeber who it was).  Both the Vice-President and
President gave short messages to the crowd.  I had never seen President
Bush so partisan or so willing to fight.

The evening session began at 7:00 p.m.  I had now been away from my hotel
for 12 hours and was very tired.  Pat Buchanan gave a fiery speech, attacking
the liberals in the Democratic Party and elsewhere that he believes are
hurting the country.  The speech was very well received in the hall, but I
think it played rather badly to the rest of the country.  I agree with
many things that Buchanan says (like the part we are in the midst of a
cultural war).  Hwever, he tends to make his points with a snarl that
turns many people like me off.  I may surprise many people by stating
that the part of Pat Buchanan that I dislike the most is his isolationism.
He seems to think we can ignore the rest of the world, which I think is
a big mistake.

As the first of the four obvious 1996 candidates to speak (the others
being Senator Gramm, Secretary Kemp, and Vice-President Quayle), I think
Buchanan hurt his chances.  Outside of a small group of very conservative
people, he offended many of the others.  Other conservatives, who may be
sympathetic to some fo his message (like me), see him as an electoral
disaster that the party should avoid.

The final speech of the evening was given by Ronal Reagan.  He got a
tremendous ovation from the crowd.  It is clear that while the delegates
votes and work this year are for George Bush, their hearts still belong
to Ronald Reagan.  Reagan's performance astounded me.  I knew he would
get a big ovation, but I had no idea he could perform as well as he did
at the age of 81.  I had never sen him in person before, but it was easy
to see why he has been called The Great Communicator.  The contrast
between his speech and Buchanan's was quite interesting.  I think
Reagan would probably agree with most of what Buchanan said.  However,
Reagan's style was to emphasize the positive aspects of a conservative
vision for American, rather than just denounce the problems of the
liberal vision for our country.  What Reagan said appealed to me much more
than what Buchanan said.  While this was an emotional moment for me, it was
not the my emotional high for the week.  However, it is clear that, for
many delegates, this was the high point of the week.

After the evening session (about 11:00 p.m.) Senator Phil Gramm had a big
party for potential supporters of his in 1996.  He used this as a fundraiser
(charging $75 to get in). Because of its cost, I did not go.  Even it it
was free, I would probably not have gone because I was too tired.  I did not
get to bed until about 2:00 a.m., with a 7:00 a.m. breakfast/caucus meeting
coming up.

Tomorrow will be a big pro-life caucus/rally and a chance to hear Rush
Limbaugh.

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
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