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THE NEWS-JOURNAL
Kaeford, N.C.
March 12, 1997
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Times have sure changed
Republican presidential choices
A few weeks ago, after former
Senator Bill Bradley’s visit to
North Carolina, I wrote alwut the
line-up of possible Democratic
presidential candidates in the year
2000. Since then, some folks have
told me that I owed the Republi
can candidates equal space.
It is a harder job. There is no
agreed-upon front-ranner — no
Republican A1 Gore. On the other
hand, while the Democrats have
just a few serious prospects, the
Republicans have too many possi
bilities to list here.
But we can talk about some of
them.
In North Carolina, of course,
everybody’s favorite Republican
candidate for 2000 is Elizabeth
Dole. She. should be^t the top.of.
our.discussionjijit, BuU.am going ‘
to discuss her chances at the end of
this column.
Why?
Well, all I can say is, read to the
end and find out. North Carolina
has no other obvious presidential
contenders, but our neighbor Ten
nessee has at least two Republican
potential challengers.
Former governor, Lamar
Alexander, might look a lot more
appealing in 2000 than he did in
1996 when he lost the moderate
Republican primary vote to Bob
Dole. Even then he was lots of
people’s second choice. After the
close scrutiny that comes with a
national campaign, he is still look
ing clean cut — at a time when
people are looking for character.
Tennessee’s other Republican
possibility is Senator Fred Thomp
son. He is new to the Senate, but
we got to know him in the
Watergate hearings when he
served as minority counsel and.
One on One
D. G. Martin
more recently, as a pretty good
movie actor. He is tough, straight-
talking, persuasive — and com
fortable in making the TV cam
eras work for him. He is going to
handle the Senate’s investigation
of campaign finance abuses. If he
does a good job on that project,
watch out for his presidential cam
paign.
History question: If Alexander
or Thompson ran against A1 Gore,
would it be the first time two ma
jor candidates fi^jr.pjesidei;^^ ^ame
from the same state? (Answer: hio,
Lincoln and Douglas from Illinois
in 1860 and Roosevelt and Dewey
from New York in 1944.)
Another Southern possibility is
George Bush. Not the former presi
dent, but his son, the popular gov
ernor of Texas. He has more per
sonality than his dad — and while
he hasn’t yet had a lot of national
exposure, name recognition will
not be a problem.
History question: When was the
last time a son of a president be
came president? (It only happened
once before, when John Quincy
Adams, son of John Adams, be
came president. President Ben
jamin Harrison was the grandson
of William Henry Harrison.)
What about the other Republi
can 1996 candidates? Buchanan,
Forbes, Gramm. What about Jack
Kemp and Dan Quayle? Each de
serves an entire column. To sum
marize though, I think they have
had their chance.
There is an important factor to
consider in sizing up the contend
ers. The Republicans are going to
want to win — more than ever.
Like the Democrats in 1992, the
various power groups are going to
be more willing to compromise
their principles. If it takes a mod
erate to win, they will nominate a
moderate — and there are plenty
of attractive moderate Republican
governors to choose from.
If being black or being a women
would give their candidate an edge,
the Republicans will be ready to
put aside their previous reluctance
to consider anyone other than a
white male.
So, does this mean Colin Powell
might have a good chance? Mavbe.
But he may' be too independenli.*
and too liberal. And he may have
too much of a military sense of
order and process to put up with all
a presidential c^didate (and presi
dent) has to do.
Would a Republican willing
ness to consider moderates and
women open the door for Christy
Whitman, , the governor of New
Jersey?
Maybe. But 1 think the most
likely pick is our state’s own fa
vorite — Elizabeth Dole. She was
the only Republican to run a suc
cessful national campaign last
year. Her husband may have lost,
but she won support all over the
country.
When the Republicans start
counting the votes that her candi
dacy would attract, I think they
might just give her the nomina
tion.
Then again, 2000 is a long way
off and maybe it is a little too
early. But it sure is fun, isn’t
it?
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A friendly preacher went to the
hospital one night to see a sinner
friend he had not been able to
reach. The man, beginning to rally
from surgery asked.
Why are the shades pulled?”
The minister answered, “I asked
the nurse to do that, Tom. You see,
there is a fire across the street, and
I don’t want you to think the op
eration had been a failure.”
Those of you who read my ar
ticles know that I was extremely
fond of my grandfather. He influ
enced my life greatly. However,
he wasn’t responsible for my stub
bornness, neither was he respon
sible for my being hardheaded. He
had a great sense of humor, which
I claim. His sermons were long,
but never dull. You didn’t nod or
go to sleep when he was preach
ing. He hugged the little children,
but he didn’t hug the ladies.
Grandma wouldn’t let him.
Praying was his speciality. The
last time the family had a reunion,
over my objection, my aunts and
uncles insisted that he bless the
food. I warned them what was
going to happen. They said no way
was he going to give a long prayer.
They didn’t know him like I did.
Even though he was 85 at the time,
I knew he wasn’t going to mess
around when he started dealing
with the Lord. His prayer started at
noon; he said amen 45 minutes
later. He blessed everyone in
America, went overseas and then
came back to get anyone he might
have missed. The children were
crying, the dogs were barking and
the ants had eaten most of the food
when we got to it.
Grandpa was kind to young
preachers. He often would take
them under his wing and train them
the way they ought to go. A young
preacher, at Grandpa’s urging, was
to give a special sermon at the
evening prayer-me^ijg. The
young buck spent all ^unday af
ternoon practicing. By the time he
was to speak, he was so hoarse that
he could barely speak above a
whisper. He asked Grandpa what
Letters
Cloning:
our fears
To the Editor:
While cloning is definitely a
big deal scientifically, it should
not be abig deal ethically. Cloning
is just another method of giving
birth. Period.
All this talk about recreating
another Hitler or Einstein is balo
ney.
While genetic characteristics
such as height, hair color or sexual
orientation may mirror the origi
nal, the thoughts and ideas of a
clone will not. They are unique to
each person. We have nothing to
fear. I think one day we will look
back and laugh at what all the fuss
was about.
Bill Stosine
Route 6
Iowa City, Iowa 52240
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A View from
the Country
Raz Autry
to do to relieve it.
“Get some brandy and pour a
little in a glass and fill the rest of
the glass with water. Take it into
the pulpit and as you preach, just
sip it a little at intervals and your
voice will clear up.”
After the sermon ended, the
young preacher asked Grandpa
how he liked his sermon.
Without cracking a smile he
said, “Well, in all candor, I didn’t.”
“You didn’t, why didn’t you?”
Then Grandpa answered: “I
have my reasons. In the first place,
I didn’t say put a cherry in it.
Secondly, I said sip it - not gulp it.
Thirdly, the Sermon on the Mount
was not preached in New York
City. Fourthly, there are 10 com
mandments, not 14. And in the
fifth place, when David killed the
giant Goliath, he used a sling and
a stone - he didn’t stomp his in
sides out.”
Times have really changed since
my grandfather’s day. Children
did what they were told to do.
When I would go for a visit, I
knew I would be in for a treat. My
grandmother, who was a large lady.
would make big cookies just for
me. After she had taken them from
the oven, which was fired with
what was called “stove wood” —.
meaning anything which would
bum—she would place me on her
lap and sing songs. I didn’t appre
ciate the songs then, because I was
too busy eating those big round
cookies. Now those memories are
precious to me.
Even though I was enjoying
myself, I knew Grandpa had some
work in mind. Sure enough, at
daylight he would call me and say
he had a treat for me. My treat was
to be on one end of what was
commonly called a “crosscut saw
One person on each end was try
ing to cut down a sweetgum tree.
He used the wood to make biscuit
trays. I never did ask him if he sold
any. If so, it was the only money he
got from our labor. Preaching
didn’t pay very well in those days.
A chicken, ham or tub of lard went
to the most powerful preachers. If
the length of a sermon was the
judge, my grandfather should have
received the whole hog.
My parting thought...Grandpa
said that you can’t agree with some
men without angering them. One
of his cases in point was the agrios-
tic whom he defined as “a inan
who loudly declares that he knows
nothing and abuses you if you
believe him.”
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