Opinion
Lamb might be able to emulate Kemp’s success
EDMOND — “All political lives, unless they are cut off in midstream at a happy juncture, end in failure because that is the nature of politics and of human affairs,” British author and Parliamentarian Enoch Powell said. And the eulogies for the recently deceased former Congressma, Housing and Urban Development Secretary and Republican vice presidential candidate Jack Kemp reflect the truth of Powell’s assertion.
Many commentators spoke of Kemp’s boundless enthusiasm and his commitment to his ideals. Kemp had been a college and later a Super Bowl-winning quarterback with the Buffalo Bills, and after he retired be was elected to Congress from Buffalo. They also spoke of his commitment to attract minorities to the Republican Party, and how he reached out to African Americans and Hispanics and told them that the GOP could raise their standard of living by ensuring that the American economy grew in a manner that would bring prosperity to all of its citizens.
The former Congressman was a believer in supply side economics, which posits that by cutting taxes the government can grow the economy. Kemp was a frequent visitor to African-American neighborhoods when he running for vice president in 1996 on a GOP ticket headed by Sen. Robert Dole of Kansas, and he was often greeted with enthusiasm. But Dole and Kemp were defeated by Clinton and Gore in that race. It was thought that Kemp’s experience as a professional athlete gave him an understanding of African Americans that was unique among Republican leaders of his generation.
But the former Congressman ultimately was unsuccessful in his efforts to attract minorities to his party, and the Republican Party remains an overwhelmingly white collective that is increasingly based in the South and West. America is an increasingly ethnically diverse nation, and it is estimated that within the next several decades whites will no longer constitute a majority of the citizenry. If the Republican Party is to be a viable national entity in the years to come it will have to attract minorities to its precinct meetings.
To many blacks and Latinos, the condescending manner that Republican senators on the Judiciary committee, especially Jeff Sessions of Alabama, displayed toward Supreme Court nominee Sonia Sotomayor during her recent confirmation hearings was a reflection of the national GOP’s attitude toward minorities.
But it is possible that in time a younger generation of Republicans will be able to attract blacks and Hispanics to their party, and Kemp will be seen as a leader who was ahead of his time.
Louisiana Gov. Bobby Jindal successfully has reached out to blacks and Hispanics in his state. In Oklahoma it is conceivable that a GOP leader such as state Sen. Todd Lamb could perform a similar feat.
Lamb, like Kemp, played college football, and has a similar enthusiastic and inclusive political style. Lamb has said that in his campaigns for office he has learned that all Oklahomans, regardless of their race or heritage, want the state to prosper so that their children will have a better life. He believes that the best way to ensure such prosperity for the state is to encourage economic growth by minimizing taxes. And Lamb, who is an announced candidate for the office of lieutenant governor, soon will take that message to the people of Oklahoma.
WILLIAM F. O’BRIEN is an Oklahoma City attorney.
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