5.25.00
Free the Freeh Files

5.23.00
Free the Freeh Files

5.19.00
Cuddle & Huddle

5.16.00
Gore Has No Stocks!

5.11.00
Sink The Feminists, Not The Subs

5.05.00
O'Connor's Kindness, and His Faith

5.03.00
The Case for Hearings

5/25/00 5:15 p.m.
A President We Can Be Proud Of
Bush nostalgia at a GOP dinner.

Kate O'Beirne is NR's Washington editor.

ast evening's Republican House-Senate Dinner, billed as the "Prelude to the Presidency," ended with a display of nostalgic fondness for former president George Bush, who addressed the 6,000 guests at Washington's Convention Center. "Who knew we would be cheering President Bush, and praying his son would become President?" marveled a conservative who had done her share of Bush-bashing in the 1980s B.C. (Before Clinton). At the twilight of the Clinton years, many conservatives in the audience felt a fresh appreciation for his predecessor.

In his brief remarks, President Bush's applause lines included his hope that Rick Lazio wins "up there in New York," although he didn't want to appear "insensitive to itinerant carpetbaggers." He complained that there had been a delay at Reagan National Airport because Congressman Patrick Kennedy had been trying to push his way past the x-ray machines. He highlighted the critical importance of this election year and his son's record of accomplishment in Texas. He explained that George W. couldn't be present owing to his daughters' high-school graduation. The explanation of his son's absence would have delighted Dana Carvey, as the former President unselfconsciously said that George W. was "hosting a party tonight in the mansion as any other father would do."

President Bush paid tribute to his sons, and to the scores of congressmen in the audience who had undertaken the "noble work of public service." The baton was implicitly passed when he noted that he doesn't engage in public policy by testifying on the Hill, or penning op-eds, because "my time in the political arena has passed by." He concluded to a standing ovation when he said that "the times and the country cry out for a fresh start. . . we need a Republican President who would restore honor, dignity, and respect for the White House."

President Bush's decency and modesty, attributes of his Greatest Generation, contrasted sharply with the self-aggrandizing baby-boomer trio partying around the corner at the DNC's MCI Center fundraiser. The final chapter of the Clinton Legacy is still to be written, but it certainly includes giving conservatives an unexpected case of Bush nostalgia.

Columns / Current Issue / Goldberg File / Nota Bene
Washington Bulletin / Subscribe / Ad Info / Home