Jack Kemp, former congressman, cabinet secretary, and VP nominee????????and one of my favorite politicos of all time????????passed away on Saturday.???? Kemp had a stellar professional football career and then turned his preternatural energy and good humor toward public service.???? He understood civil rights and social justice issues as well as anyone on the Republican side of the aisle and fought for them vigorously.???? But unlike many with these leanings, he believed that conservative policies were likelier to bring about dignity, freedom, and prosperity than well-intentioned but hulking and expensive government programs.
Accordingly, this self-styled ???????bleeding-heart conservative??????? fought for empowerment zones in urban neighborhoods and school choice for disadvantaged boys and girls.???? On this second point, Kemp was particularly important to conservatism.???? Though many on the right, from Friedman on, saw a choice and competition-based system as an economically sensible way to delivery public education, Kemp realized that the true virtue of school vouchers lie in their ability to empower low-income families and enable disadvantaged kids to access schools that were otherwise out of reach.
Mike recently lamented the state of the Republican Party's thinking on education reform issues.???? The GOP could do a whole lot worse than following the heart and mind of Jack Kemp.???? May he rest in peace.