Jack Kemp has died.

[SuperJerk 0]

Jack Kemp, former quarterback and VP nominee, dies

 

WASHINGTON – Jack Kemp, the ex-quarterback, congressman, one-time vice-presidential nominee and self-described "bleeding-heart conservative," died Saturday. He was 73.

Kemp died after a lengthy illness, according to spokeswoman Bona Park and Edwin J. Feulner, a longtime friend and former campaign adviser. Park said Kemp died at his home in Bethesda, Md., in the Washington suburbs.

Kemp had announced in January 2009 that he had been diagnosed with cancer. He said he was undergoing tests but gave no other details.

Senate Republican leader Mitch McConnell, R-Ky., called Kemp "one of the nation's most distinguished public servants. Jack was a powerful voice in American politics for more than four decades."

Kemp, a former quarterback for the Buffalo Bills, represented western New York for nine terms in Congress, leaving the House for an unsuccessful presidential bid in 1988.

Eight years later, after serving a term as President George H.W. Bush's housing secretary, he made it onto the national ticket as Bob Dole's running-mate.

With that loss, the Republican bowed out of political office, but not out of politics. In speaking engagements and a syndicated column, he continued to advocate for the tax reform and supply-side policies — the idea that the more taxes are cut the more the economy will grow — that he pioneered.

Kemp's rapid and wordy style made the enthusiastic speaker with the neatly side-parted white hair a favorite on the lecture circuit, and a millionaire.

His style didn't win over everyone. In his memoirs, former Vice President Dan Quayle wrote that at Cabinet meetings, Bush would be irked by Kemp's habit of going off on tangents and not making "any discernible point."

Kemp also signed on with numerous educational and corporate boards and charitable organizations, including NFL Charities, which kept him connected to his football roots.

http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20090503/ap_on_re_us/us_obit_kemp

 

Jack Kemp was the epitome of everything I once believed in politically. I voted for him for VP in 1996, and I really think people with his since of honor and decency are an endangered species in politics.

[Swindle 0]

I didn't even know he was sick, but now that I think about it, I don't recall seeing him on tv in awhile.

 

Cancer sucks.

 

The Dole ticket was dead in the water, but I do remember being struck by what a strong personality Kemp was during the campaign.

[Richard 0]

Who would have thought that Bob Dole would outlive his running mate.