Leach waxes professorial in Democratic convention speech

DENVER — True to form, former congressman Jim Leach, R-Iowa, delivered a speech to the Democratic party’s 2008 convention that was part endorsement, part treatise on American government Monday night.

“In troubled times, it was understood that country comes before party,” Leach said after listing several examples of bipartisanship in U.S. history.

Former Rep. Jim Leach addresses the Democratic National Convention (Photo: Flickr/Barack Obama)

“As a Republican, I stand before you with deep respect for the history and traditions of my political party,” Leach said at the beginning of his speech.  “But it is clear to all Americans that something is akilter in our great republic.  In less than a decade, America’s political and economic standings in the world have been diminished.”

Clearly reluctant to throw the crowd the partisan red meat it was accustomed to, Leach maintained a bipartisan attitude throughout his speech.  He cast U.S. Sen. Barack Obama, whom he publicly endorsed two weeks ago, as a “transformative figure,” whose platform is more “change” than “Democratic.”

Leach was introduced to convention-goers by U.S. Sen. Tom Harkin, Iowa’s Democratic senator.  Harkin, who began his speech in sign language, highlighting his support for the Americans with Disabilities Act, called Leach a “strong, proud, influential Republican.”

“You know, we Iowans have a strong, vibrant, two-party political system.  However, we don’t genuflect ideology,” Harkin said.  “We value thoughtfulness.”

If Leach engaged in any genuflection, it was at the altar of bipartisanship, which he got to know well during his long career in Washington, D.C.  To a crowd of rowdy Democrats in Denver, it was not altogether welcome.  Delegates used his speech as an opportunity to talk amongst themselves, which they did during nearly all of the speeches not delivered by a Kennedy or an Obama Monday night.

After comparing the Democratic presidential nominee to former president John F. Kennedy, Leach emphasized the difficulties our next president will face.  “The portfolios of challenges passed on to the next president will be as daunting as any since the Great Depression or World War II.”

“Little is riskier to the national interest than more of the same,” he continued.  “America needs new ideas, new energy, a new generation of leadership.”

“Hence I stand before you,” he concluded, praising both his own party and the party whose delegates he was addressing, “proud of my party’s contributions to America’s history, but, as a citizen, proud as well of the good judgment and good people of this party in nominating a transcendent candidate, who I am convinced will recapture the American dream and be a truly great president.”