Path: bloom-picayune.mit.edu!snorkelwacker.mit.edu!americast.com!americast.com!americast-post Newsgroups: americast.twt.news From: americast-post@AmeriCast.Com Organization: American Cybercasting Approved: americast-post@AmeriCast.com Subject: Republican governors argue at unity meeting Date: Wed, 18 Nov 92 16:10:35 EST Message-ID: \SE A;NATION \SS (WS) \HD Republican governors argue at unity meeting \BY ASSOCIATED PRESS \DT FONTANA, Wis. FONTANA, Wis. (AP) - Tensions simmering within the Republican Party broke into the open yesterday in a spat between governors - over religion - at a conference promoting post-election unity. The episode came at the close of a Republican Governors Association meeting when two pro-life Southern governors were asked to discuss whether efforts by moderates to temper the national party's opposition to abortion would alienate members of the religious right. Mississippi Gov. Kirk Fordice said that such questions "infer that there is a demise of Christianity in America. I totally reject that." "The United States of America is a Christian nation," he said. "The less we emphasize the Christian religion, the further we fall into the abyss of poor character and chaos in the United States of America." South Carolina Gov. Carroll Campbell quickly strode to the podium and said: "The value base of this country comes from the Judeo-Christian heritage that we have, and that is something we need to realize. . . . When you go back and look at the foundation of the country, it did come from a Judeo-Christian heritage." Mr. Campbell then walked back to his spot on the dais next to Mr. Fordice and said, "I just wanted to add the 'Judeo' part." Mr. Fordice responded testily: "If I wanted to do that, I would have done it." Both men are considered conservatives, Mr. Fordice further to the right than Mr. Campbell. Many leading conservative voices in the party have joined moderates in urging the party to project a more inclusive image. Still, moderates are concerned about the party's direction because of the growing influence of the religious right in state and local GOP organizations. Moderates who blame President Bush's defeat on the party's pro-life stance and conservative convention want to tug the party closer to the center. Yesterday's brief episode underscored the tensions in the GOP that have become increasingly public in the two weeks since Mr. Bush's defeat. With no president to pick a party chairman, the party leadership is in an open contest for the first time in more than a dozen years. The Campbell-Fordice exchange came at the close of a conference in which a parade of party leaders had urged Republicans to put aside differences over abortion and other social issues and rebuild by stressing the party's basic themes of lower taxes and spending and less government. "We don't seek to divide," Mr. Campbell said. "We may have differences and debates on individual issues, but not on the general philosophy of this party, and that is where you put the big tent up." The GOP governors closed their conference by urging President-elect Bill Clinton to keep his campaign promise to end unfunded federal mandates on states. "He certainly understands our complaints about mandates without money," said Ohio Gov. George Voinovich, the group's new chairman. "This group will not take cheap shots." In their final session, the governors were warned by a former Bush domestic policy adviser, Deborah Steelman, that the Republicans need to move quickly and forcefully to reverse the perception among voters that the party was not pushing for health care reforms. "If we don't come up with some ideas and some vision on this, it is my opinion that we will be out of the game," she said. "The party that tackles this problem will clearly be the dominant party of the next 20 years." She urged the governors to lead that debate, saying the party's leaders in Washington appeared blind to the crisis. "You cannot have a dinner conversation where health care is not raised unless you are talking to a bunch of Republicans in Washington," Miss Steelman said. This article is copyright 1992 The Washington Times. Redistribution to other sites is not permitted except by arrangement with American Cybercasting Corporation. For more information, send-email to usa@AmeriCast.COM