Word: kempe
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...apparent at first, but the loss of Jack Kemp, who died on May 2 at 73, calls to mind the parallels he had with another political giant, Hubert Humphrey. As far as I knew, neither had a single political enemy. They may not have achieved the presidency, but each was enormously important in his respective party, in the institutions of government and to the political process. Both were examples of how party members should conduct themselves today...
...Kemp began a career in politics, describing himself as a "bleeding-heart conservative." As a GOP congressman from Buffalo, the blue-collar city whose AFL team he had led to two championships in the mid '60s, he worked with black colleagues on issues opposed by both many conservatives and Republicans, including sanctions on South Africa and a national holiday to commemorate the birthday of the Rev. Martin Luther King...
...secretary of Housing and Urban Development under President George H.W. Bush that Kemp began to realize political possibilities for Republicans committed to racial progress, said Scott Reed, his chief of staff at HUD. He championed public housing tenants over developers, even spending a night in a Philadelphia project to gain perspective. He pushed for urban enterprise zones that offered tax incentives to lure investment to blighted communities. "It generated headlines that were nontraditional for Republicans," said Reed, who went on to run Dole's 1996 campaign. "It gave him an opportunity to show Republicans that it works...
...Neither ever waded into a black crowd, like Sylvia's, or had the easy familiarity with blacks that Kemp displayed that day, getting laughs by referring to a local pastor as "Rev" and teasing a woman who had interrupted him, saying, "Hey, girl, it's my microphone...
...event became even more surreal when Harlem's most influential Democrat, Rep. Charles B. Rangel, wandered in. He offered a few words of praise to Kemp for the "courage you have to speak out when it was unpopular in your party, to talk about all people regardless of color." Today, some Republicans surely regret that sentiment wasn't widely shared in their own ranks...