Were commencement comments our preview of coming attractions?
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By Linda Brinson
EDITORIAL PAGE EDITOR
Sunday, May 21, 2006
If anyone needs proof that presidential politicking never ends, consider this: Here we are, more than two years away from the next presidential election, yet colleges and universities have no trouble rounding up prospective candidates to be their commencement speakers.
This graduation season has been something of a trial run or a warm-up for many of the people whose names are being floated for the 2008 nominations. Hillary Clinton, Joe Biden and John McCain are among those who have been rushing from one commencement to another, dispensing inspiration and advice to the graduates and picking up enough honorary degrees to paper a wall.
Of course, inviting a politician to speak at graduation runs the risk of letting politics run amok and make the graduates feel that they are playing second-fiddle when they are supposed to be the stars. That's been the case this year at Boston College, where Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice, another possible presidential contender, is supposed to speak at commencement Monday. When the selection of Rice was announced, some faculty members at the college protested, saying that Rice's international policies and her role in the Iraq war are not in line with the college's Catholic values. It didn't take long for the faculty and student body to be bitterly divided about whether Rice was a good choice.
Here in Winston-Salem, Wake Forest University's foray into the presidential previews - with Mark Warner, who just completed four years as a successful and popular Democratic governor of Virginia - went smoothly.
Wake Forest officials seemed pretty excited about the buzz surrounding Warner's possible run for president. Their publicity included a quote from a cover story in a March issue of The New York Times Magazine that referred to him as "the bright new star in the constellation of would-be candidates, a source of curiosity among Democrats searching for a charismatic outsider to lead the party." Wake Forest's president, Nathan O. Hatch, talked about the possibility when he introduced Warner.
But Warner himself didn't talk about running for president, except to crack a joke about what he has in common with new graduates: "After four years of hard work, I'm currently unemployed."
Instead, he delivered what could be a model commencement speech. It was long enough to show that he considers college graduation a momentous accomplishment, but short enough to keep people from squirming in their chairs and checking their watches. He spoke directly to the graduates, praising their achievements and reminding them to thank those who helped them along the way.
Warner offered two primary bits of advice and inspiration. One had to do with the graduates' obligation to themselves. "Don't be afraid to fail," he told them. "Be brave, be daring, and be courageous." He urged them to take risks that can lead to great achievement, and told them that if some of those risks lead to failure, then "pick yourself up, wipe off the dust, and get back into the game...."
The other advice had to do with the grads' responsibility to their community: an obligation to "conduct our political debates in a civil and respectful manner."
Warner's advice was pretty basic, but it was delivered clearly, articulately and with charm and humor. And along the way, he managed, through personal anecdotes and examples, to convey things he wants voters to know about his life story. He's the first in his family to attend college. He knows what it's like to be poor. A couple of life-lesson business failures just after finishing law school left him living out of his car. But he took another risk, and became a co-founder of Nextel and eventually a wealthy man.
And in elaborating on the need for more respectful political debate, Warner got across what could become important campaign themes. He spoke of the need for serious debate on Iraq, the changing global economy, huge budget deficits, dependence on foreign oil, global warming and other challenges. He said there is an urgent need to work for consensus that can lead to action, rather than indulging in vitriolic "partisan and personal attacks."
"We can and should be able to disagree about the great issues of the day...," Warner said. "But we should be able to disagree ... about the war in Iraq without impugning each other's patriotism. We should be able to disagree about serious social issues without questioning each other's underlying morality or religious sincerity. We should be able to disagree about tax or health-care policy without questioning each other's basic compassion or motives."
On the same weekend, John McCain, who's getting a lot of buzz as the possible Republican presidential candidate, delivered a commencement address at Jerry Falwell's Liberty University in Warner's home state of Virginia. Part of McCain's message, as repeated in news accounts, sounded almost like Warner's. It is the "right and obligation" of those who oppose the war in Iraq - which he supports - to speak out, McCain said. He spoke of the need to respect political opponents.
Dare we hope? If Warner and McCain end up as the candidates, can we expect a high-minded presidential campaign that focuses on substantive issues? Or will the real world overwhelm commencement-day idealism? Stay tuned.
• Linda Brinson is the Journal's editorial page editor. She can be reached at lbrinson@wsjournal.com
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