During the 2000 campaign, Bob Jones University in South Carolina became a lightening rod for controversy when George W. Bush kicked off his campaign in the state by visiting the campus and delivering a speech to the student body.
Bush’s appearance became extremely contentious because BJU, a rigidly Christian fundamentalist school, has a record for virulently racist and anti-Catholic policies. The school, for example, has banned interracial dating among its students, and school officials have repeatedly attacked the Roman Catholic Church, referring to the pope as the “Antichrist” and calling the Catholic Church a “satanic cult.”
At the time, Bush’s campaign said the event was no big deal. Campaign spokeswoman Mindy Tucker said, “[T]his is a school that has a lot of conservative voters, and it’s a common stop on the campaign trail.”
Regardless of the number of GOP primary voters at the university, critics assailed Bush’s appearance, arguing that his uncritical speech at BJU was tantamount to an endorsement of the school’s policies. John McCain, who had just trounced Bush in the 2000 New Hampshire primary, told reporters, “If I were there, I would condemn openly the policies of Bob Jones, because I would want to make sure that everybody knew that this kind of thing is not American.” Even conservative journalists like Bill Kristol, editor of the Weekly Standard, said, “You could make the case that ‘compassionate conservatism’ died Feb. 2 when Bush appeared at Bob Jones U.”
Bush weathered the Bob Jones storm, easily won the South Carolina primary, and never looked back. The incident, though, quickly solidified its place in campaign history. Future GOP candidates now know that to visit BJU looking for votes is to take a huge risk.
With that in mind, it was somewhat shocking to see a report from The New Republic that presidential candidate Sen. John Kerry would welcome the chance to visit Bob Jones University to share his ideas and beliefs.
As the magazine reported, Kerry was at a campaign event in Columbia, South Carolina last week when the senator was asked by a local woman if he’d be willing to speak at BJU. “I would love to,” Kerry said without hesitation.
When a reporter asked a Kerry campaign advisor, who did not hear Kerry’s remark, about whether the candidate might be appearing at the controversial school, the aide replied, “Do you really think he would seriously speak at Bob Jones, c’mon.”
The aide, however, was mistaken. As Kerry campaign press secretary Robert Gibbs told The New Republic, “Senator Kerry would love to speak at Bob Jones, challenge the university and tell them everything that George Bush did not have the courage to say in 2000 about views that clearly have no place in our society.”
I sincerely doubt the university would extend an invitation to Kerry; not only is he Catholic, he’s worse — a Democrat.
Regardless, I hope Kerry gets the chance. While he condemned Bush and others for addressing BJU in the past, no one could reasonably accuse Kerry of hypocrisy because he wouldn’t be speaking to solicit votes or endorse the school’s values, he’d be going to condemn the ideas they embrace and he abhors. Indeed, Bush’s offense was not merely visiting the campus and speaking to the students, it was appearing without disparaging BJU’s well-known and very public bigotry.
If Kerry were given the chance to talk to the school’s students and faculty, it would also create a great opportunity for the junior senator from Massachusetts to follow in the footsteps of the state’s senior senator. Some of you might remember Ted Kennedy’s brilliant speech on “truth and tolerance in America,” delivered in 1983 to Jerry Falwell’s Liberty College in Lynchburg, Va.
It turns out Kennedy was accidentally sent an invitation to visit Falwell’s school. Much to the TV preacher’s surprise, Kennedy accepted. The unintentional invitation gave Kennedy, who had just sought the Democratic presidential nomination three years prior, a chance to address the burgeoning religious right movement and explain — respectfully — why he believed their agenda was misguided. (It’s a truly exceptional speech that is just as powerful today as it was 20 years ago.)
Kerry could do the same thing at BJU if given the chance. Then again, I doubt very much that Bob Jones III will make the same mistake Jerry Falwell did.