Watching the Fox News Network set up to cover the Democratic National
Convention in Denver, with some 400 Fox employees, brought to memory the
three times I attended a Democratic Convention. The first time was in
1976. Democratic State Representative Woody Jenkins, of Louisiana, had
assembled hundreds of pro-life delegates. He asked for my help and that
of my staff to work with these delegates to try to convince the
Democratic Party to take a pro-life position. This was the convention
which nominated Georgia Governor James Earl Carter, Jr., later known
worldwide as Jimmy Carter, as their Presidential nominee. The Party
ended up endorsing the Hyde Amendment - i.e., no federal funding for
abortion. It was a remarkable experience. Working with Democrats was
rather different. I had been at Republican conventions in 1960, 1968,
1972 and went on to attend the Reagan-Ford Convention in Kansas City in
1976. That convention put the Republicans on record as moving toward a
pro-life stand. It was the last time both parties leaned toward a
pro-life position. By 1980 the Democrats had become captive to the
pro-abortionists while the Republicans came out with a 100% pro-life
platform.
Then in 1992, Rush Limbaugh, Bill Bennett and I broadcast by satellite
from the Democratic Convention in New York. We had a minimal crew, only
half a dozen. Even though we had not been broadcasting regularly, we
were inundated with telephone calls from all over America. The success
of that broadcast was a determining factor in launching National
Empowerment Television, or NET, a year and a half later.