Gop Shows Signs Of Political Maturity

There is more than slick scripting behind the pearly white smiles of unity at the Republican National Convention. There also are hints of real change in the air. Somewhere backstage - could it be in Bob Dole’s suite? - a steel will has been at work, drawing partisans with sharply differing beliefs toward a common purpose.

The blow-dried gabbers in the network TV booths, who know a thing or two about scripting, suggest the unity’s a facade. Certainly, the Republican Party’s divisions are deep and deeply held - as they long have been in the Democratic Party, recently fractured by President Clinton’s embrace of Republican welfare reform.

But just as Democratic partisans for years have wrung a semblance of compromise from their own dogmatic interest groups, so also are Republican leaders beginning to show the same skill. Coupled with popular values, it’s a skill that can build political dynasties - witness the Democrats’ 40-year dominance of Congress.

One sign of change came as Dole’s economic proposal built a bridge connecting the party’s deficit-cutting side to the tax-cutting side. Dole cemented his commitment to the new policy by naming Jack Kemp as running mate.

Next, Pat Buchanan - whom no one controls - urged his followers Sunday night to stop pitchforking fellow Republicans and go after Bill Clinton instead. His endorsement of Dole was far from a foregone conclusion.

Finally, delegates who fiercely disagree with some of Colin Powell’s views gave him a roaring ovation. Why? He had sounded the party’s overarching theme of smaller government and larger opportunity. And he had asserted, reasonably, that “we are a big enough party and big enough people to disagree on individual issues and still work together.”

The Republican Party, transformed in recent years by the rambunctious forces of the religious right, just might be maturing. It appears to be engaged in a process of internal compromise - a prelude to the compromises of successful governing. Religious conservatives have a big, vocal delegation at the San Diego convention this week and easily could blow Dole’s presidential hopes to kingdom come. But, beginning with Buchanan’s move and continuing with the enthusiasm for Kemp, Powell and keynote speaker Susan Molinari, the party’s right wing seems to be making a pragmatic decision: Partial victory beats total defeat.

Decisions like that aren’t made without leadership to inspire them. Soon, we’ll see if it lasts. There’s plenty of time for the party to collapse in a tangle of warring ideologues - or to develop into a complex machine like its old Democratic counterpart, with a chance at victory.

, DataTimes The following fields overflowed: CREDIT = John Webster/For the editorial board