Jack Kemp's recent death has unleashed a torrent of punditry about what he did, or did not, stand for. Many in the media knew him, both as a Congressman, VP candidate, and HUD Secretary.
Kemp's explicit and solid pro-growth economic credentials typically caused him to be labeled as a conservative. Of course, his stance on social issues was more mainstream.
However, with his passing, many, like ditzy Wall Street Journal weekend columnist Peggy Noonan, are plunging, yet again, into diatribes about how the GOP needs to be more centrist and mainstream. This time, they bemoan the party's reaction to Arlen Specter's job-protection-induced switch to the Democrats, and claim that Kemp's legacy should be a bigger tent for the Republican party.
As far as I know, Kemp was on a losing GOP ticket with Bob Dole, the latter no solid conservative, either. I'm sure Jack Kemp was a good Representative for his district in Buffalo. The tax cut legislation that bore his name certainly was good for the country.
But I never actually heard Kemp scold the GOP for being too doctrinaire. If anything, I'd say the story about his celebratory letters to his grandchildren on Wonderboy's election indicates he was fooled by the candidate's attempts to portray himself as centrist, rather than the extreme liberal he actually is, and governs as.
Jack Kemp was a valuable member of the GOP for many years. But I don't think that means we should automatically attribute things to him that he didn't necessarily say, nor give all of his opinions the same weight as those of successful GOP presidential candidates.
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