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POLITICS & COMMUNITY Road to Victory: The Gospel According to Jack Kemp by harry goldstein Don't miss the entry on Ross Perot at the Christian Coalition Convention and Harry Goldstein's other columns on Campaign '96.	Saturday, September 14, Washington Hilton, The Road to Victory Jack Kemp is aflame, politico incandescent, and he can toss off a fire and brimstone speech with the best of them, quoting the Bible chapter and verse (as can Dole and Perot, incidently). Many people who consider themselves liberals or moderates -- whatever that means -- seem to think that Jack Kemp is an intellectual who cares about race problems and class divisions. Make no mistake: Jack Kemp is a Christian zealot. If your belief system derives from something other than the Bible, Christian Coalitioners and Jack Kemp consider you a heretic, probably a Liberal. Says Kemp, "We must dispel the delusion -- whether it is held by ourselves or others -- that by talking about Biblical truths, we set ourselves up as the standard for judging others. Only God establishes the standard against which all of us fall short. And while we must strive toward it, our falling short must not prevent us from insisting on standards -- in the field of politics, education, social and economic policy, or anywhere else...The American idea of separation of church and state does not mean that there is a separation of religious truth from politics, or that there can be a political part of our life which is separate from the spiritual art of our life." So for Jack Kemp and by association Bob Dole, there is only one TRUTH and it is the good word of the Bible as interpreted by Ralph Reed and Paul Weyerich and Pat Buchanan, Ollie North, Pat Robertson and of course, Kemp himself, the CC's Golden Boy. And this is what makes Kemp so -- I'll say it -- dangerous in 2000: He's got a certain appeal to a base beyond the CCers. Yet, he is certainly of them: a dogmatic, unwavering Christian who will not hesitate to rule by Biblical code.
The only crime in this society, according to Kemp, is born of bad moral choices, not poverty.	If you believe in a woman's right to choose what she does with her body, then take heed of what Jack Kemp says: "I want to say a few words about the most vulnerable member of our human family. It is impossible to speak credibly about compassion for the weak while allowing the tragedy of partial-birth abortion (look for new CC sponsored ads on the subject to start airing in the next few weeks). These children -- just moments away from their first breath -- must be allowed to live. Our nation must be human enough...and inclusive enough...to welcome them into life. And let me say that as president, Bob Dole would never veto an attempt to save these precious lives. But we are not just condemning partial-birth abortions, we are condemning a flagrant disregard for the sanctity of human life...." For all their talk about keeping the government out of people's lives, abolishing the IRS, etc., CCers sure do cotton to the idea of having government restrict a woman's right to deal with her body in a manner she sees fit. If you believe that poverty is the greatest crime our society perpetrates on its citizens, Kemp thinks you're dead wrong. The only crime in this society is born out of bad moral choices, he said. "The root cause of crime is not so much poverty, as liberals contend, nor is it the lack of prisons and tough law enforcement, as conservatives often suggest. The root cause of crime is wrong moral choices. The solution lies in teaching and modeling values and virtue to our youth." What values and virtues does Kemp think we need to program our youth with? Surely there are only one set of values worth instilling in people -- those that come from the Holy Bible! Just what the CCers wanted to hear from a man who would crawl naked over broken glass to get into the White House. That's why they love Kemp -- he tells them what they want to hear and has the passion to throw his life on the line for his ideals. Clinton would crawl naked over broken glass on The Road to Victory, I'm sure, but he doesn't have to.
Jack's the Golden Boy because he can fly under the liberal radar.	I got the feeling many of the people gathered there would have no problem laying down their lives for Jack Kemp -- Dole, well, they didn't care so much about. But Jack! Young. Smart as a whip. And a very good Christian. They'd follow him into battle and many of them no doubt will in 2000. That's going to be the election to watch. Oh, the Ccers love Pat Buchanan, but everyone knows he can't possibly get elected. That's why Jack's the Golden Boy. He can fly under the liberal radar and pluck some votes, put them over the top. And if that happens, watch out. We're in for one Hell of a ride. Harry Goldstein is a writer and editor living in Manhattan. His work has appeared in "Utne Reader," "American Book Review," "Promethean," AltX, word.com, and other periodicals. © 1996 Harry Goldstein, All Rights Reserved