Will the Republican Party Survive Kansas City?

As it turned out, Gerald Ford won the delegates’ nomination. Ronald Reagan won their hearts. And Rocky won the white Princess phone. The Republicans’ Kansas City clambake was a first-class Convention. It had all the elements of good drama—sorrow, exultation, comedy, suspense, a fine curtain at the end. It had its tedium, too, but compared to the recent Democratic yawn, this was a very superior show.

Nine months ago, nothing so rousing was foreseen. Ford had announced his candidacy in July of 1975. Reagan waited until November. The Washington press corps, which is naturally the fount of all wisdom, gazed upon the Reagan statement with benign disdain. To be sure, we know that Reagan had served two terms as governor of California; he had acquired a certain reputation as a conservative spellbinder; but he was little more than an aging ex-movie actor. He was not one of us. The general feeling was that Ford would knock him off without working up a sweat. Time magazine gave him only “an outside chance.” Scotty Reston scoffed at “this amusing but frivolous Reagan fantasy.”

JJ

About the Author

James Jackson Kilpatrick

Featured Tags

Presidential Election

As it turned out, Gerald Ford won the delegates’ nomination. Ronald Reagan won their hearts. And Rocky won the white Princess phone. The Republicans’ Kansas City clambake was a first-class Convention. It had all the elements of good drama—sorrow, exultation, comedy, suspense, a fine curtain at the end. It had its tedium, too, but compared to the recent Democratic yawn, this was a very superior show.

Nine months ago, nothing so rousing was foreseen. Ford had announced his candidacy in July of 1975. Reagan waited until November. The Washington press corps, which is naturally the fount of all wisdom, gazed upon the Reagan statement with benign disdain. To be sure, we know that Reagan had served two terms as governor of California; he had acquired a certain reputation as a conservative spellbinder; but he was little more than an aging ex-movie actor. He was not one of us. The general feeling was that Ford would knock him off without working up a sweat. Time magazine gave him only “an outside chance.” Scotty Reston scoffed at “this amusing but frivolous Reagan fantasy.”