FIRST PERSON

Tom Kean On Convention Spotlight

As Told To Richard E. Cohen

Thursday, Sept. 4, 2008


First PersonStepping into the spotlight at a national convention can be one of the high points of a lifetime in politics. But for a trio of Republicans who starred at previous GOP conventions, memories of their big moment are mingled with recollections of not being entirely in control--having to deal with a huge crowd, a balky TelePrompTer, or a weird mechanical problem.

• Dan Quayle
• Tom Kean
• Susan Molinari

I was chosen [as 1988 keynote speaker] because I had been re-elected governor with 70 percent of the vote, including a majority of African-Americans. New Jersey was a swing state back then. And I had been friends with the senior Bush for a long time, and he knew that I would do no harm. Our fathers served together in Congress, and our grandfathers attended Stevens Institute in Hoboken, N.J., at the same time.

It's an incredibly difficult speech to write. You are dealing with a series of audiences, including television, plus the people in the hall. When you describe where the nation should go, that's a very serious speech. But the people in front of you want red meat. They are the ones most dedicated to the party.

I was told again and again by a number of people, including Mario Cuomo [the then-New York governor, who gave the 1984 Democratic keynote address], that the speech would fall flat if I only spoke to the broader audience. So, I ended up with a bit of a hybrid. The tough lines were not necessarily at the urging of the Bush campaign. Some convention people tried to get involved with the speech. I told them to get somebody else.

I spent a long time preparing the speech. Sometimes, you get too many people in the kitchen, and there is confusion. I often revise a speech until the last minute, and I had a problem with the TelePrompTer. It turned out to have an early draft. So I had to use my printed text for a couple of pages. That was a shock. I put in a line that the earlier Democratic convention had "pastel patriotism" [based on its color motifs]. That came from somebody else. I didn't particularly like it, but the convention loved it.

The announcement earlier that day [that Dan Quayle would be Bush's running mate] took away much of the attention to the speech. That was disappointing. I wanted people to hear it.

My advice is that you are happier with such a speech if you are yourself. It's your speech. The option is to do it your way or not at all. The Bush people said that they liked it, including my push for [political] inclusion.

Bush won New Jersey that year. I campaigned for him. But I never know if popularity is transferable. The speech did not do a great deal for me. My friends tried five times to get me to run for the Senate. But I never wanted to do national politics. I will be at the convention this year. The McCain organization asked me.

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