EMPOWER AMERICA: THIS IS THE REAL GOP SHADOW GOV'T.

It is my belief that too much responsibility has been arrogated to the federal government; we have created a "nanny state" that takes too much from us in order to do too much for us. This has enervated self-government. We seek a devolution of responsibility from the federal government to the states, from the states to the localities, and from all three to the efforts of individuals.

"Empower America" co-founder William J. Bennett, January 12, 1993.

As triumphant Democrats prepared to inaugurate a president and vice president for the first time in 16 years, this past week saw a significant development in the life of the "loyal opposition."

From the ashes of a miserable campaign that yielded President George Bush the lowest incumbent presidential vote since 1912, already, hope glimers on the Republican horizon. That hope comes in the form of steady, strong, seasoned and principled leadership from an impressive and mostly young group of the strongest thoroughbreds in the Republican stable.

Quibbles about Jack Kemp's presidential ambitions principally from his rivals for the '96 GOP nod will be heard from some quarters. But make no mistake: this is the real Republican "shadow government" for the Clinton years.

(A disclaimer: this columnist has long believed that Ronald Reagan's worst mistake was his choice of George Bush as vice president in July, 1980; a majority of delegates on that GOP convention floor favored Kemp for VP as did I and the course of history would have been radically different had the Gipper complied with that sentiment.)

"Empower America" is the name of an organization founded this week by outgoing Housing and Urban Development Secretary Jack Kemp, former drug czar and Education Secretary Bill Bennett, and former UN ambassador Jeane Kirkpatrick. Former Minnestoa Congressman Vin Weber will serve as founding president. Some excerpts from Weber's statement of principles:

"We believe that America must commit itself to policies that achieve growth, expanding employment, rising incomes and genuine opportunity for all our citizens, especially the poor.

"... We believe in a role for government in health care, education and the many problems afflicting the poor. Yet we reject the centralization, bureaucracy and paternalism that characterized the past approaches to these problems. A new path towards individual and family empowerment with an emphasis on cultural renewal is our goal." (Emphasis added.)

Intellectual ballast is provided by such as author/critic/columnist Michael Novak; by Empower America board chairman Ted Forstmann, a Bush defector and key 1992 supporter of Ross Perot; and by that energetic apostle of black self-help and entrepreneurship, Robert Woodson of the National Center for Neighborhood Enterprise. Also on board is Perot campaign spokesman Orson Swindle, whose presence signifies a self-conscious intention to reach out and engage in the essential business of building coalitions.

Other heavyweights associated with Empower America comprise a Who's Who of the most impressive conservative leaders of the past 15 years. They include former New Jersey Gov. Tom Kean and the following sitting governors: Tommy Thompson of Wisconsin; Carroll Campbell of South Carolina; John Engler of Michigan; and, interestingly, social liberal/economic conservative and supply sider Bill Weld of Massachusetts. This is principled conservatism, under a big tent.

Don't look for mindless bashing of the Clinton administration from these quarters; our president-elect will receive enough of that commodity. But when principled policy alternatives and honest, vigorous debate are needed and our democratic form of government presupposes them this is where you'll find them.

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Rush Update

Cape Girardeau native Rush Limbaugh's nationally syndicated TV show suffered a glitch in the local broadcast of Friday night's edition. Our office did some checking with KFVS-TV. An executive there told us: "The technician doing the recording of the live feed had technical difficulties receiving it. As a result, he had to go one of two pre-recorded programs we have lying on the shelf for such an occurrence." The prerecorded program thus broadcast Friday night ended up being one that was originally broadcast before last November's election, more than two months ago.

This unfortunate occurrence was as nothing, though, compared to the snub in Friday's USA Today. "America's newspaper" headlined the top of their "Life" section Friday "Late-Night Vote Line: 1-900-288-9410", offering readers a chance to vote for their favorite late-night TV hosts, past or present. Contenders listed were Jay Leno, David Letterman, Arsenio Hall, Chevy Chase, Ted Koppel, Dana Carvey or Johnny Carson.

Rush was not even mentioned, despite a recent Advertising Age magazine piece that demonstrated he is beating all the late-night TV competition except Ted Koppel's "Nightline" and CBS's crime-time programming.

By the way, that 900 number (29 cents per call) is still taking calls until 2 p.m. Central time this afternoon (results in Monday's USA Today). After a torrent of protest calls at having omitted Rush on Friday morning, USA Today call takers announced they are counting calls that declare a preference for Rush, or for others they left out Whoopi Goldberg, for instance.