Checking Back With the Joneses

Texas Gov. George W. Bush's speech at Bob Jones University has come to be held as a symbol of intolerance and bigotry that his opponents can wield against him at will. Prior to New Hampshire, Dubya had tried to remain moderate, but his loss forced him to veer to the right in order to shore up his nomination. Rather than lean to the far right, Dubya chose more of an all out sprint. This tendency of the Republican Party to force its candidates to move to the right during the primaries has been its method of choice in recent elections for political suicide in the general election.

At the time of Dubya's appearance at Bob Jones University, the school had a ban on interracial dating and an anti-Catholic reputation. The decision of a candidate who wants to campaign on inclusion and compassionate conservatism to make an appearance at such a university said more about his position on tolerance than any debate. The press rightfully slammed him for the speech and this was supposed to hound him well into the general election.

And then Bob Jones III, president of Bob Jones University, declared on Larry King Live that the school had dropped its ban on interracial dating. Before Dubya starts raising more money, now that he has solidified the nomination, he needs to send some of his pricey spin doctors out to draw attention to this change in policy.

This change has serious ramifications for how we deal with intolerance. Rather than deride it and put a blanket over it, perhaps what we really ought to do is bring into the light and draw attention to it. Whether or not Dubya deserves credit for this change is debatable considering he did not express any regret about the policy during his speech. Nevertheless, he had no right to campaign as an environmentalist or as advocate for breast cancer research. If Dubya is going to insist on spending obscene amounts of money on his campaign, the funds should at least go towards something he almost has the right to take credit for.

--Benjamin M. Grossman