Editor's note: Staff reporter Julie Foster is part of the WorldNetDaily
team in Philadelphia covering the Republican convention.
By Julie Foster
© 2000, WorldNetDaily.com, Inc.
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PHILADELPHIA - Though most of the news media continue to hype perceived
divisions among Republicans, pointing to differences of opinion about social
issues -- mainly homosexuality and abortion - party members with varying
roles at the convention say a severely fractious GOP exists only in the mind
of the media.
It is true that Republicans are not unified on every issue - social or
economic - but the prevailing attitude here at the party's national
convention is very positive.
"I don't think Republicans are ever unified," Phyllis Schlafly, founder of
the national volunteer organization
Eagle Forum, told WorldNetDaily. "You don't have to agree on everything. You support the party for different reasons."
Those reasons include both social and economic factors.
"Republican liberals still want less government than Democrats," said Becky Norton Dunlop, former Reagan official and current vice president at the
Heritage Foundation. "It's a difference of degrees," she said, referring to the variances between "conservative" and "liberal" camps of the GOP.
The party has "ebbs and flows," she added.
Indeed, the current flow may be more "open" than in previous years, but GOP members insist the core values of the party have remained.
"I think with any family, each family member has their own biases, likes, dislikes. And from time to time in the family, that leads to some pretty active discussion," said Jim Cawley, the Republican candidate for Pennsylvania House of Representatives' 141st district, a suburban area outside Philadelphia.
"But the Republican family is one that, because it is so large, there's a lot of diverse viewpoints. We all agree on the core principles of the party -- that government that governs least governs best, that we don't give handouts, necessarily. We try to give a hand-up; we try to assist. And I think that by and large, that is what has kept this party as together and as strong as it has been," Cawley told WorldNetDaily.
Differences of opinion may be painted in a negative light by party outsiders, but Cawley and others believe it to be a source of strength, as stated in the party's platform.
"In contrast to what our party does, which is to allow diverging points of view to be discussed, [former Pennsylvania] Gov. [Robert] Casey tried to gain access to the podium at the 1992 DNC, and he wasn't allowed. They just simply would not allow the governor of the fourth largest state in the Union to stand up and say, 'You know what, I'm pro-life.'
"We have statewide leaders who are at the cutting edge of both the pro-life and the pro-choice movement," the candidate continued. "Our two U.S. senators on that issue could not be more divergent. But when it comes time to first take care of the needs of their constituents of Pennsylvania and to preserve, protect, defend and advance the Republican Party, they lock arms together and do what's best."
As
previously reported in WND, the official pro-life position of the GOP is far from being in jeopardy, with less than one percent of the platform committee in support of eliminating the plank.
The result of this year's meeting is clearly reflected in the party platform.
"We oppose abortion, but our pro-life agenda does not include punitive action against women who have an abortion," the platform reads.
Despite the clarity of the party's official position, speakers at the convention have conspicuously avoided discussion of the topic. But even the staunchest pro-life advocates don't seem to mind.
"I think [George W. Bush] would be better if he did make that clearer, but he hasn't done anything to offend the pro-life movement," said Schlafly, a long-time pro-life leader. "I guess we get the pro-life message in the prayers," she said, referring to the pre-session prayers usually led by members of the clergy who tend to emphasize the "sanctity of life."
When asked if Bush accurately reflects the current GOP, Schlafly replied, "He clearly won the nomination. I don't think there's any question about that, so he's our candidate. And he said he was standing firm for the pro-life plank."
Even former Ambassador Alan Keyes believes the rank-and-file membership is in agreement.
"At the grass roots, the Republican Party is united in commitment to conservative principles and moral principles," he said, adding that leaders with big money and influence may not always share that commitment.
But how do Republicans deal with the contentious issue of homosexuality?
"The way that it's dealt with it for the last 150 years - through growth and evolution," said Cawley. "I think that gay men and lesbians are realizing that the party is more than willing to accept them as a member and for them to have a say in the party and ultimately maybe even to become elected officials. But some of the core issues of the party about issues like same-sex marriages, about issues such as health care for life partners, are not going to change.
"The folks that I know who are homosexual who are Republicans are in constant pursuit of that growth, that evolution of the party. But issues like recognition of same-sex marriages aren't what's paramount to them," Cawley continued. "What's paramount to them is seeing America as a society continue to grow and to improve. And they honestly believe that the best agenda for accomplishing that is the Republican agenda."
Republican Bob Hedden, who participated in peripheral convention activities, summed up what most here in Center City are expressing.
"I see the split as just democracy in action," he told WND. "I also see the split in some ways as media-generated by the leftist media. They have no compulsion against planting a story that never existed and then feeding upon it until they try to make it become a self-fulfilling prophecy."
"I think if you don't have an internal struggle within a party, you're never going to find it's true soul," he added. "I think that right now George Bush is reflecting his own inner self to the outer world, and he's doing it to project an aura that he's a leader, which he's dong very well. And all the struggles and all the differences will meld themselves into one cohesive, consistent approach towards November."
Bush delivered his bilingual acceptance speech last night at First Union Center during the most fun-filled night of the week. State delegations were preparing even the night before, with the Texas delegation serenading guests in the downtown Marriott's hotel lobby. Even onlookers chimed in, giving no indication of fatigue at the spontaneous 2 a.m. gathering and exuding confidence that Bush will be the next president.
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Keyes carries pro-life banner