000807.txt Convention was quite the show, and the GOP may have pulled it off News-Chronicle By Melanie Fonder PHILADELPHIA - Though the weeklong Republican National Convention was a highly orchestrated made-for-television special, the GOP did manage to present a broader face for its party. Hidden were the ultra-conservative House leaders Reps. Richard Armey, R-Texas, and Tom DeLay, R-Texas. Showcased were the minority members of the House, Rep. J.C. Watts, R-Oklahoma, the lone African American Republican and Rep. Jennifer Dunn, R-Wash. One California Assemblyman even gave his entire podium speech in Spanish. Also noticeably missing from the podium was a considerable number of white males. Instead, Texas Gov. George W. Bush used his theme, "Renewing America's Purpose. Together" to highlight "ordinary" Americans, who tended to be as many minorities as the party could gather. Sounding decidedly un-Republican, Bush accepted the Republican nomination Thursday night to thunderous applause when he invoked the words of another much-loved Republican leader, former President Ronald Reagan. Using the Berlin wall as a backdrop, Bush spoke of another wall in America. "On one side are wealth and technology, education and ambition. On the other side of the wall are poverty and prison, addiction and despair," Bush said. "And, my fellow Americans, we must tear down that wall." Bush's speech included humor directed at his opponent, Vice President Al Gore, as well as seriousness in reciting his goals if he wins the White House. Whether independent voters accepted the big-tent strategy remains to be seen in November, but the lack of discord from right-wing groups could be telling. Wisconsin had a noticeable presence in the convention hall. Introducing the party's platform on Monday morning, Gov. Tommy Thompson spoke every bit on message with the theme of the entire convention: inclusiveness. "We reached out to people across this country. We met with every group and individual that wanted to express their views," Thompson said. "And we created an open environment for all Republicans to pursue the inclusion of their initiatives in the platform." Not that any of the several meetings around the country Thompson held dramatically changed the document - he had promised he would not differ from the views of Bush on any major issues - but the final version was billed as significantly more moderate than those of past conventions. Language in the 1996 platform calling for four federal government agencies to be abolished, including the Department of Education, was dropped. The major party plank on abortion remains unchanged, but the forum did provide both pro-choice and pro-life Republicans to be heard in the process. That effort to provide a sounding board for varying views before the delegations arrived in Philadelphia kept floor fights virtually absent from the convention. The most disruptive moment on the convention floor came during the speech of Rep. Jim Kolbe, R-Ariz., who is the only openly gay Republican, when a member of the Texas delegation held up an offensive sign. Pilar Gomez, a native of Milwaukee and single mother of four, spoke during prime-time Monday night on school choice for low-income families. "I'm a little surprised to find myself speaking here. I'm surprised because I'm a Democrat," Gomez said. "But on the issue closest to my heart - the education of my children and my right to choose their schools - party lines fade." Ave Marie Bie, chairwoman of the Wisconsin Public Service Commission, spoke during prime time the next night about what she called the lack of a national energy policy during the Clinton-Gore Administration, pointing to the high gasoline prices in the Midwest. "These rising prices are like a tax that hits the poor the hardest, and stifles our economy," Bie said. "While demand for energy is growing, this administration has increased our dependency on foreign oil by consistently opposing domestic production of new energy sources." NEXT WEEK Watch for a preview of the upcoming Democratic National Convention in Los Angeles as well as Wisconsin's Democratic members on Gore's vice-presidential pick, which he is expected to announce Tuesday in Nashville, Tenn. This column by Fonder, a staff writer for The Hill, a Washington-based weekly newspaper that covers Congress, appears every Monday in The Green Bay News-Chronicle. You can email her with comments at melfonder@yahoo.com.