WASHINGTON (AP) -- 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.
A personal hero, Kemp was too pure a fiscal conservative to get elected to national office. His economic ideas are the ones republicans often espouse, but rarely, if ever, actually implement. A true patriot.
We'll be back right after order has been restored here in the Omni Center.
�That the universe was formed by a fortuitous concourse of atoms, I will no more believe than that the accidental jumbling of the alphabet would fall into a most ingenious treatise of philosophy� - Swift
Originally posted by AWArulzA personal hero, Kemp was too pure a fiscal conservative to get elected to national office. His economic ideas are the ones republicans often espouse, but rarely, if ever, actually implement. A true patriot.
And a true conservative. As a liberal, I respected his adherence to a true conservative outlook.
Godspeed, men of the 2nd Bn, 127th Infantry, 32d "Red Arrow" Brigade, Wisconsin Army National Guard! Victory in Iraq!
Originally posted by AWArulzA personal hero, Kemp was too pure a fiscal conservative to get elected to national office. His economic ideas are the ones republicans often espouse, but rarely, if ever, actually implement. A true patriot.
What AWA said. We could sure use more men like him.
I'm tempted to get his jersey now as a tribute...maybe I should've been a long time ago.
Originally posted by AWArulzA personal hero, Kemp was too pure a fiscal conservative to get elected to national office. His economic ideas are the ones republicans often espouse, but rarely, if ever, actually implement. A true patriot.
I think the Republican party could use more like him, these days. I think it would help get them back on track.