Former VP nominee, GOP Rep. Jack Kemp has cancer
Former Buffalo Bills quarterback, New York Republican representative, secretary of Housing and Urban Development and vice presidential nominee Jack Kemp has cancer, his office disclosed today.
The 73-year-old Kemp, who served nine House terms, was Sen. Bob Dole's running mate on the 1996 Republican ticket forged in San Diego. Before that he was in the Cabinet of President George H.W. Bush as HUD secretary. And he had his own unsuccessful campaign for the GOP presidential nomination in 1988 against the same Bush.
A West Los Angeles native and graduate of celebrity-strewn Fairfax High School, until last year Kemp was probably the most famous politician to attend Occidental College. No longer.
Now, Barack Obama is. The president-elect is four inches taller than Kemp, but did not play quarterback, safety, punter and place kicker on the football team.
Kemp's 13-year football career involved the National Football League, the Canadian Football League and the defunct American Football League, where Kemp was an all-star for seven of the league's 10 years and played in five of its championship games.
Kemp is known fondly among Republicans for leaving Friday or Saturday meetings early to fly off to games of either of his sons, Jeff and Jimmy, both of whom also became pro quarterbacks.
Kemp's office said he would continue his consulting and charitable work but did not disclose what type of cancer he has, apparently pending further tests.
"His multitudes of friends are praying for the best," Dole told the Associated Press.
-- Andrew Malcolm
Photo: Cliff Schiappa / Associated Press
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Andrew Malcolm's immigrant parents repeatedly stressed the importance of active participation in a democracy. Early lessons included learning the alphabetical list of states by watching televised roll calls of national political conventions. That childhood exposure led to a lifelong fascination with politics, including 40-plus years of covering them and a brief stint practicing them as press secretary to Laura Bush in 1999-2000. A veteran foreign and national correspondent, Malcolm served on the Times Editorial Board and was a Pulitzer finalist in 2004. He is the author of 10 nonfiction books and father of four.
Johanna Neuman is a veteran Washington correspondent for both The Los Angeles Times and USA Today, having covered presidents and politics as far back as Ronald Reagan. A former president of the White House Correspondents Assn., she authored a book on media and foreign policy, “Lights, Camera, Wars.” Most recently she was co-author of the 
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I am hoping to send a message to Jack Kemp, whom I met last fall at Lima, Oh Civic Center ...a Republican rally..a reception was held upstairs for him, and Tom Ridge and us, that wanted to meet them. I found M r. Kemp to be a very nice person with a good sense of humor. I am wishing him the very best, hoping he is successful in his fight against his cancer. Sincerely, Barbara Newland
Posted by: barbara Newland | January 23, 2009 at 11:09 AM