Rep. Bob Barr of Georgia will be hanging out at the Republican national convention with no particular plans. Rep. Henry Hyde of Illinois has plans, but they consist of sitting on the convention floor as a delegate. Rep. Asa Hutchinson of Arkansas will attend the convention, too, mainly to talk up George W. Bush. Rep. James Sensen-brenner of Wisconsin isn't coming at all. In case everyone's forgotten, these four Republicans and nine others constitute the most popular group in the entire Republican party: the House impeachment managers.
Yet only one of them will be speaking to the convention, Rep. Bill McCollum of Florida, and that's because he's running for the Senate. Now, if all of them appeared together at the podium, as they should, they'd get such a rousing, foot-stomping, standing ovation that the Liberty Bell might sport another crack. But that won't happen. Convention managers have decided not only that it would be imprudent, but that it would be partisan. Heaven knows, you shouldn't inject anything partisan into a party convention. Plus they don't want the impeachment of Bill Clinton to look like it was partisan either, or so they say.
So while delegates are being entertained by the likes of Bo Derek and the pro wrestler known as The Rock, the heroes of impeachment, men like Hyde and Rep. Jim Rogan of California, will have to muddle along on their own. Both Hyde and Rogan have the same problem: They're too popular. Hyde's aides are worried about getting him in and out of the convention hall. They figure he'll be mobbed by adoring Republicans. Rogan? He's gotten so many requests for speeches, drop-bys, and other appearances in Philadelphia, he's having trouble sorting them out. But a request to address the full convention? Perish the thought.