Philadelphia II: Winners & Losers - Republican National Convention - Brief Article

National Review, August 28, 2000

There were, happily, more winners than losers at this convention. George W. Bush, of course, was the big winner, universally acclaimed for having pulled off a convention free of dissension and appealing to voters. He wisely refrained from picking fights with pro-lifers over the platform, having learned from Bob Dole's mistake in 1996. He looked presidential delivering a fine speech at convention's end and left Philadelphia with a head of steam.

Other Bushes also came out ahead. Democrats criticized Gov. Bush for relying too much on "Daddy," former President Bush. The younger Bush, recognizing that most Americans think well of his father and of the idea of asking fathers for advice, did not take the bait by going out of his way to prove his independence. Laura Bush, meanwhile, was impressively poised while giving the reassuring impression that she is not running to be Hillary's successor.

Three other speakers also shone. John McCain, in a typically poignant speech, erased any doubts about his public commitment to the Republican ticket. Condoleezza Rice made it clear that she will be an asset to the Bush administration. And Vito Fossella, the only straight white male congressman allowed to speak in prime time, was able to make entitlement reform sound exciting.

Speaking of speeches, the Bush speechwriting team-Mike Gerson, Matthew Scully, and John McConnell-did an excellent job. The speeches by Bush and Cheney were not only eloquent and conservative; they fit the personality and diction of the speakers, and even managed to maintain consistent themes.

Arianna Huffington must also be counted a winner. Her "shadow convention" may not have shed any light on the issues it supposedly concerned. But it certainly got the publicity that was always its real purpose.

Chief among the losers were Ann Stone, Christine Todd Whitman, and the rest of the shrinking pro-abortion faction of the GOP. With fewer delegates than last time and a presidential campaign not intimidated by her, Stone was sidelined. And Whitman, hailed by the media as the future of the party a few years ago, was a nonentity in Philadelphia.

If the platform came out well for the Bush campaign and for conservatives, it was no credit to the man who was supposed to be superintending it: Wisconsin governor Tommy Thompson. He kept trying to pull the platform left, on everything from Internet taxes to gay rights. And he made a procedural mistake that handed pro-abortionists a temporary victory. The Bush campaign had to intervene repeatedly to save him from his folly. Elizabeth Dole bombed at the convention, her vapid speech numbing it like a shot of Novocain: painless yet somehow still uncomfortable. Tom Ridge's speech went over better, but it came only after he had displayed his petulance over not having been chosen as veep-he told reporters, ludicrously, that he had not wanted the position.

Since the convention was successful, the biggest losers are Al Gore and Bill Clinton. Gore enters the Democratic convention needing simultaneously to rally his base, appeal to swing voters, and attack Bush without being unpleasant. Good luck. Clinton has to be worried. If his term ends with Republicans in control of both the White House and Congress, he will have to be judged a more disastrous leader for the Democrats than even Michael Dukakis.