J.C. Watts at Dartmouth

Friday, April 22, 2005

It is rare that the College invites conservative speakers to grace its podiums; thus, when it was announced that former Congressman J. C. Watts (R-OK) would be speaking, many on campus did a quick double-take.

The Congressman spoke to a surprisingly sparse crowd of about 150 people, of whom perhaps 35 were students. Most of the Upper Valley's conservative community was there on April 7, as were more than a few gawkers who stared at Rep. Watts as if he were featured in some sort of menagerie. A black Republican? Who knew? Maybe next week they'll bring in a bearded lady.

Watts proved to be a provocative and charismatic speaker from the beginning. After a brief exhortation that "this student generation" has "a rendezvous with destiny," as the baby boomers "squandered" most of the World War II generation's gains, Watts launched into the heart of his speech, the evils of taxes.

Watts said legislators' first question when faced with a program should be "does it work?" All people, regardless of political affiliation, should be against unnecessarily bloated government. Sadly, Watts claimed, legislators are not asking the question. Many federal agencies can't even pass audits; others, Watts noted, "lost things like ships." According to Watts, the size of the federal government could be reduced ten to fifteen percent in one year without a reduction in services. Meanwhile, he added, many people are left with "more month than they have money." The federal government taxes you, concluded Watts, "from the time you get up to the time you go to bed."

Watts proceeded to attack the federal government for not being open enough to the global economy, claiming that our nation must "create the right environment" for "insourcing." Using another of his sound-bites, he added that "we have transformed our kitchen" more than the federal government. Watts further claimed that the federal bureaucracy was becoming equivalent to a dictatorship. A government's goal should always be "compassionate results," yet this ideal is not being met when the nation is not open to new jobs and taxes its citizens.

Watts closed as he began, with an exhortation, though in his conclusion he entreated the audience to avoid the European model of "graceful decay." The factors in such a decay were "raising taxes, cutting benefits," losing self-responsibility, removing "God from public life," and redefining marriage. In all of these areas, Watts claimed, America was dangerously near the dividing line.

As a speaker, Rep. Watts was charismatic, eloquent, and always ready with a quip or turn of the phrase. However, his speech was far too long on soundbites and short on details. Watts provided a breath of fresh air to the campus political climate, but ultimately failed to make a lasting impression.

J.C. Watts at Dartmouth

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