Newspaper Page Text
PAGE 10A
FORSYTH COUNTY NEWS W«dn»»d«y, March 17,2004
Opinion
J- J_... .
McCain’s actions
not helpful to Bush
WASHINGTON ln this
winter of Republican discon
tent, the last thing the Grand
Old Party needed last week was
John McCain leaving the door
open for him to be John Kerry's
vice-presidential running mate
on the Democratic ticket. That
opening was tiny, and Sen.
McCain quickly had it closed
with a bang. Nevertheless, the
incident was disturbing to
knowledgeable Republicans for
less than obvious reasons.
A Kerry-McCain ticket is
out of the question, and nobody
knows it better than McCain.
Then why did he for several
hours last Wednesday permit
what the Associated Press
described as "a glimmer of
hope'' for this unlikely combi
nation? It reflects more than the
senator's indisputable propensi
ty for mischief-making. At a
time when George W. Bush
needs help and support,
McCain is opposing him on a
broad front of issues from tax
cuts to global w anning.
McCain, regarded as a nui
sance by most of his
Republican colleagues, in fact
is the conscience of his party
and the Bush administration on
many questions. But he often
seems more hairshirt than con
science, not hesitating to join
hands with Democrats as a
campaign of extraordinary par
tisan intensity begins. What
happened last week sounded
like McCain warning his intra
party adversary of 2000 that he
really couldn't expect too much
help from him.
McCain previously labeled
as absurd interview questions
about him going on the
Democratic ticket, but some
thing got into him when asked
last Wednesday morning on
ABC's "Good Morning
America" whether he would
consider becoming Kerry 's run
ning mate: "John Kerry is a
close friend of mine. We have
been friends for years.
Obviously, I would entertain it."
His quick admonition that the
Democrats never would seek "a
pro-life, free-trading, non-pro
tectionist, deficit hawk" was
ignored. McCain Chief of Staff
Mark Salter had to be trotted
out hours later to make clear
that his boss was not running
for vice president.
Salter could not undo all the
damage. At the moment that
Republican strategists are intent
on unveiling Kerry to voters as
the most liberal member of the
Senate, the immensely popular
McCain says the prospective
Democratic nominee is OK
The tough 2(XX) primary cam
paign waged against McCain is
cited in the Democratic mantra
protesting all criticism of Kerry'.
McCain's refusal to talk about
Kerry's long voting record
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Robert
Novak
against defense and intelligence
spending gives aid and comfort
to the political enemy.
McCain is nothing like Sen.
Jim Jeffords, who long had been
an apostate before leaving the
party three years ago. McCain
has supported President Bush's
war policy and is on close terms
with Vice President Dick
Cheney. National Security
Adviser Condoleezza Rice and
Deputy Secretary of State
Richard Armitage. He is the
GOP's better angel in exposing
the congressional Republican
appetite for pork, the profligate
highway bill and outrageous
Defense Department collusion
with Boeing Co. at taxpayer
expense.
What transforms McCain
from a conscience into a hair
shirt is his refusal to consider
any adjustment toward party
loyalty in a presidential election
year. Two weeks ago, he
presided over Senate hearings
on his global warming bill that
dovetails with the Democratic
election-year agenda. Last
week, he joined with
Democratic senators to pass a
budget amendment that would
effectively rule out tax cuts.
Because neither of these pro
posals has the slightest chance
of becoming law, they become
exercises in politics Dem
ocratic politics.
Worse yet is what the vet
erans of McCain's 2(XX) presi
dential campaign say when no
reporters are around. Other
Republicans have been
shocked by how contemptuous
they are of the president and
his record. At one recent pri
vate dinner, what the former
McCain campaign operatives
said was hardly distinguish
able from Democratic ranting
against Bush. That may be a
cause or a result of McCain’s
conduct or possibly a com
bination of both.
The hard truth is that the
wounds of 2000 never really
have healed for John McCain.
When the congressional
Republican leadership is com
plaining about the president's
inability to project any message
other than the war against ter
rorism. McCain's ability as a
Republican to reach out to
America could be helpful.
Notwithstanding his proclivity
to cause trouble, a strong com
mitment to Bush would have
precluded him from seeming to
reach out to Kerry.
Robert Novak is a nationally
syndicated columnist and a tel
evision commentator.
CARTOONISTS' VIEWS ON THE NEWS
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Inattention to education immoral
Georgia’s long march
toward gaining at least region
al status in higher education
may be coming to an end.
Hardly a day passes with
out new headlines heralding
cutbacks in university pro
grams. reductions in scholar
ship money, increases in
tuition and fees, and, of
course, stories of profligate
spending in academic execu
tive suites.
Gov. Sonny Perdue has
become the first governor in a
half century who did not
proudly boast of being "The
Education Governor." He is
more likely to think of himself
as "The NASCAR Governor."
(Hey. don't knock it. On
Election Day. the racetrack
gang outnumbers the note
book-and-backpack mob by at
least 1.000 to 1.) Previous
leaders of the Legislature
from House Speakers Tom
Murphy and George L. Smith
II to Lt. Govs. Pierre Howard
and George T. Smith
always placed enhancing the
University System at the top
of their agenda. The big hitters
in the General Assembly
invariably took an interest in
university affairs.
Now. you can count on one
hand the number of lawmak
ers whose main interest is
higher-ed.
Public universities may be
slipping into the same catego
ry as our public schools.
Because of endemic poverty,
demographics and a hideous
but mostly hidden bias against
"too much schoolin’,"
Georgia’s secondary education
system has never done very
well.
Higher education has been
another story. Historically, the
Georgia public has loved its
colleges and universities.
Bi"
Shipp
More than 40 years ago. Gov.
Ernest Vandiver refused to
close the University of
Georgia in the face of court
ordered integration because he
perceived Georgians would be
outraged if the school shut
down.
Gov. Carl Sanders recruit
ed a first-rate chancellor,
George Simpson, to begin
building the University
System into a set of world
class institutions. Georgia
Tech evolved into one of the
nation’s premiere engineering
and science schools. The
University of Georgia grew
from a Dixie cow college to a
renowned center of learning
and research. Georgia State
University sprung out of a
converted parking garage to
become an indispensable core
for urban education and a pil
lar of support for Atlanta.
More importantly, small
public colleges cropped up
everywhere with a junior
college or four-year institution
setting up shop at trade cen
ters across the state.
Every body had access to high
er education. Several of the lit
tle colleges mushroomed into
major universities with huge
enrollments. (See Georgia
Southern, Kennesaw State,
West Georgia and Valdosta
State, for starters.)
In addition, a governor
could bestow no higher or
more prestigious honor on a
supporter than an appointment
to the University System
Board of Regents.
Gov. Zell Miller came
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"Listen, pal, if gas keeps going up, I'm going to need you!"
along with HOfE scholar
ships, and higher education
prospered even more.
Georgia left its Southern
cousins Alabama and
Mississippi in the dust. The
Peach State’s new Southern
peers were Virginia and North
Carolina (or at least that’s
what Georgia boasted).
Ah, but that is history—
and probably more back
ground than you wanted to
absorb in this single sitting.
The future is more impor
tant. Higher education in
Georgia is no longer the
teacher’s pet in the statehouse.
In fact, it is crisis bound.
Perhaps understandably, the
Perdue administration sees the
University System as more of
a fat target for budget cuts
(and not much else) than a
cause for celebration.
This administration seems
to delight in producing one
scheme after another to reduce
scholarships (not just HOPE
but other, lesser-known stu
dent-aid programs too) and
increase student costs.
News stories of Enron-like
golden parachutes for
University System officials
have shocked us. Tales of
exorbitant spending for
administrators' mansions and
exotic "education retreats"
have appalled us.
The Michael Adams-Vince
Dooley controversy has hurt
the University of Georgia’s
reputation. Events have taken
such a bad turn in Athens that
the University of Georgia arts
and-sciences faculty has deliv
ered a resounding "no confi
dence" vote on the administra
tion of UGA president
Michael Adams.
The swells on the UGA
Board of Trustees arrogantly
held illegal closed meetings
on the Adams matter until
Attorney General Thurbert
Baker threatened a lawsuit.
Meanwhile, the trustees spent
a bundle on legal fees to
defend their indefensible
position, cash that might
have gone to scholarships or
teaching chairs or anything
else besides the bank
accounts of a silk-stocking
law firm.
The Adams-Dooley-facul
ty-trustees mess dramatically
illustrates what has gone awry
with the University System
and perhaps all of state gov
ernment as well. The officials
in charge in Atlanta seem
frozen at the stick, incapable
of sorting out the personnel
problems, canceling the
tuition increases, disapproving
the crazy expense vouchers or
taking any real action to put
the University System back on
track.
The governor’s office
apparently believes it has
more pressing problems to
address. For instance. Gov.
Perdue professes to be inter
ested in combating immorali
ty. Let’s hear it for Gov.
Perdue!
However. Mister Governor,
nothing is more immoral than
allowing our higher education
system to slide back into the
swamps with Mississippi,
Alabama and even the Georgia
that I grew up in. Such inat
tention to education (and other
details of secular governance)
may be more immoral even
than allowing gays to wed or
banishing ornate translations
of Hebraic law from our court
houses.
Bill Shipp's column
appears each Sunday and
Wednesday. His e-mail ad
dress is bshipp@ bell
south, net.