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By JOHN L. MAROCCHI
Rappahannock News Contributing Writer
With acknowledgement to James J. Kilpatrick’s “Letters to Heather,” I offer the following letter to my grandson.
DearJon:
Some weeks ago, after you attended the Rally for Virginia’s 1989 Republican candidates at Washington, you asked: “Grandpa, what are the differences between Democrats and Republicans?” You deserve a better answer than you heard that day.
Let’s begin with something that may seem odd in the middle of a hotly contested campaign: the parties have more in common than you might think.
(1) Neither party has all the good or bad people. As both mirror our population, both have honest persons and crooks, dedicated members 1 and abusers of power, privilege and morals. - i (2) People of both parties are ■ equally vulnerable to the corrupting . influence of power. Lord Acton’s fa. mous dictum, “Power corrupts, and I absolute power corrupts absolutely,” applies equally to Democrats ; and Republicans. < . (3) So too for intelligence and0 • preparation: gifted, educated and «' experienced persons are found in ? both parties. ; ’* (4) In broad political and economic principles, too, they agree. Both parties support the Constitution and Bill of Rights. Neither proposes major changes. Equality of every citizen before the law, popular elections, a free enterprise economic system — all agree on these.
But you asked about differences, Jon. They exist and are very important, though they relate to means rather than ends. Democrats and Republicans differ on:
(1) The role of government.
(2) The size of government.
(3) Opportunities and results.
(4) Individual responsibility.
Government’s Role: If you review the records of the last four or five presidents of both parties, you see that Democrats believe government should involve itself in almost everything. So we have federal labor laws, deposit insurance, a Department of Education, welfare and housing programs and currently proposed day-care legislation.
Republicans believe governments should be limited to areas only governments can handle: foreign affairs, defense, public order,
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