The 2004 National Republican Convention which re-nominated George W. Bush was remarkable for a variety of reasons, and I have been thinking about that election and RNC as I think of this year's race. It was the first Republican convention since 9/11, was held in NYC and was the first "war-time" convention to re-nominate a President in three decades. That wasn't what I found most noteworthy, however: I thought the speeches, and what they signaled, to be the most interesting happening in a campaign since Harry Truman promised to "win this election and make the Republicans like it!" Why was the GOP gathering so fascinating?
Three speeches stood out because of their historical and political significance. The first was Giuliani's, a masterfully crafted political hatchet-job of John Kerry and attempt to position himself as a candidate in 2008. I remember being amazed that this little fascist, with his comb-over and lisp, was speaking with the heart of history's great zealots, and the crowd responded accordingly. Giuliani terrified me then, at the thought of his campaign, and while I suspected that he would lose because Republicans don't nominate "Liberal Republicans" anymore he scared me all the same. That he has lost so convincingly in this year's bid for the Presidency has been a relief, and has also shown me that Americans don't enjoy one-dimensional candidates for President, with slight track records.
The second significant speech was Zell Miller's keynote address. In a stunning reversal of his keynote hailing Bill Clinton and the Democrats in 1992, Miller destroyed Kerry. Miller's was a perfect, old-time barnburner, and it amazed me to see in this new century a politician use passion and vinegar as if it were the 1940s or the 1840s. Contrasted with John Edwards' and Jimmy Carters' at the DNC, these speeches showed me that candidates for President must be enthusiastic about seeking the Presidency, along with their party; that, as much as anything, is why Bush defeated Kerry: the GOP simply wanted it more.
The final speech that stood out to me was Governor California's, whose speech was significant not just because he is the Kindergarten Cop addressing the nation, but because he invoked a man, with admiration, for the first time on primetime television since 1972. If you don't remember, California spoke admiringly of Richard Nixon and his 1968 defeat of Hubert Humphrey, something that doesn't happen very often. Now Nixon is one of my favorite and great historical figures, but he has been shunned often by historians and academics. When I tell people my admiration, they worry that I will bug their homes, but Nixon's achievements are remarkable except for his bitter obituary. As time has passed his historical standing has risen, from historians who used to rank him near the bottom of American Presidents but now have him in the mid-tier to modern politicians who are willing to invoke him on the biggest stage in politics: primetime, in NYC, at a major convention. What does this signal?
The 2004 Republican Convention shows us that there is room for past rhetorical devices in present politics, and the public longs for politicians of conviction and parties of passion. It is my further desire that more politicians come to understand the tactical and strategic brilliance of Richard Nixon. He was a man of sound economic and environmental policy, of courage in opening relations with China and seeding detente with the Soviet Union, of medical care (notably his war on cancer) and nuclear proliferation. He always did what was best for the nation. I, for one, am tired of poll-tested flower girl politicians, and I am anxious for a leader who is bold, thoughtful and compassionate. I know most don't apply these adjectives to Nixon but I find him terribly misunderstood by a public too-eager to dismiss a great man as if he were one word and one word alone: "Watergate." I hope the 2004 RNC shows Democrats that a frightened party is a defeated party and campaigns should be waged feverishly; I am tired of being represented by moral and intellectual cowards who wind up not representing me because they can't get elected President. It is also my hope that the nation's policy-makers and public will come to know Nixon for the thousand things he did as President instead of "Watergate" while I will continue to know him as one word and one word alone: "hero."
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