Wednesday, May 6, 2009
Politics Jack Kemp, 1935-2009
Posted by Mark Asch on Wed, May 6, 2009 at 8:39 AM
It is kind of sad, ultimately, how the last 30 years of American economic policy — you know, tax-slashing and trickle-downs, all that stuff that resulted in ever-growing disparity in well-being and then, ultimately, collapse — was authored by a guy who was elected to Congress because he was a local sports hero, and didn't really understand policy at all upon arrival in Washington. This is the main takeaway from all the obituaries about AFL-era Buffalo Bills QB turned supply-sider Jack Kemp, who died this weekend from cancer.
Still, by all accounts, Kemp was a standup guy who cared more about minorities than his economic principles did, and a throwback to a Republican party defined by something other than the culture wars. (It's especially amazing that a jock politician turned into a wonk instead of an idealogue a la Bunning, Largent, Swann...) Plus Dole-Kemp — even to someone newly aware of politics in 1996 — was an amusingly disfunctional, lukewarm major-party presidential ticket, which was fun. So, so long, Jack Kemp, I wonder how many contemporary members of your party I'll be able to feel remotely this warmly towards, when the time comes.
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