Not all Democrats hate President Bush. While it is true that most of those present at the Democratic National Convention despise the President, there is a group who are actively supporting him, and they are growing in number.

            The most famous is Georgia Senator Zell Miller. Sen. Miller’s fiery speech at the Republican National Convention made headlines across the nation. Some described it a over the top, but it spoke for many Southern Democrats increasingly alienated by the far-left elitism of the national Democratic Party. These Democrats are actually conservative by most standards – they tend to be against gay marriage, pro-gun, and pro-God (take that, Howard Dean), but remain Democrats mostly because of family history and misconceptions about Republicans.

            Unfortunately for these Democrats, FDR and JFK are dead, and they aren’t coming back. Today’s Democratic Party is nothing like the party of old. Sure, there’s Joe Lieberman (a rare moderate), but look at how he did in the Democratic primary. Gradually, these Democrats are becoming Republicans. Zell Miller may accelerate this process.

            Support for Bush isn’t limited to conservative Democrats. Former New York City Mayor Ed Koch, a liberal Democrat who agrees with Bush on virtually nothing on the domestic front, has endorsed Bush for one reason – the War on Terror. Koch rightly understands that the war is the overriding issue of our time, and if we lose, no other issues will matter.

            Like Miller, Koch is disgusted by the antiwar stance of the Democratic Party (90% of the delegates to the Democratic National Convention opposed the war in Iraq). He also believes that John Kerry lacks the “stomach” to wage a truly effective War on Terror.

            Ed Koch is not the only Democratic mayor to endorse Bush. Randy C. Kelly, mayor of St. Paul, MN, and George McKelvey, mayor of Youngstown, OH, have also thrown their support behind the President. Like Miller and Koch, these mayors agree that the war must be won, and that Bush is the man who can do it. These endorsements are not meaningless; both Minnesota and Ohio are key battleground states.

            Griffin Bell, former Attorney General under Carter, and former Senator David Grambrell (D-GA) are also supporting Bush. Recently, Louisiana’s Rodney Alexander and Texas’s Ralph Hall, both Democratic Congressmen, became Republicans.

            All of this points to the openness of the Republican Party. Increasingly, the Republicans are becoming the “big tent” party. Unlike the Democratic Party, which famously denied former Pennsylvania Gov. Robert Casey the chance to speak at their convention for committing the great sin of being pro-life, the Republican Party has gone out of it’s way to allow various people of various ideologies to join.

            Consider that the following people spoke at the Republican National Convention: an Austrian immigrant, the former mayor of one of the most ethnically diverse cities in the world, a Democrat, and a Senator with well known liberal leanings. The political ideologies of these speakers varied. Some are pro-choice. Some opposed the Bush’s tax cuts. Yet all were embraced by the party. It’s hard to imagine something similar happening at the Democratic National Conventions, whose speakers were mostly a collection of liberal ideologues.

            Some conservatives have objected to allowing so many moderates to speak, and with some justification. After all, the Republican Party should be the party of conservative values. But, like these brave Democrats, we should understand that the War on Terror is the overriding issue of the day. In order to win, we must reelect President Bush. We must unite various ideologues behind Bush. After we win, we can all go back to debating other issues.

            Perhaps Arnold Schwarzenegger summed it up best: “If you believe that government should be accountable to the people, not the people to the government...then you are a Republican! If you believe a person should be treated as an individual, not as a member of an interest group... then you are a Republican! If you believe your family knows how to spend your money better than the government does... then you are a Republican! If you believe our educational system should be held accountable for the progress of our children ... then you are a Republican! If you believe this country, not the United Nations, is the best hope of democracy in the world ... then you are a Republican! And, ladies and gentlemen ...if you believe we must be fierce and relentless and terminate terrorism ... then you are a Republican!”

            And, if you support the War on Terror, you may be a Republican, or you may be a Democrat. But if you sincerely want to win, you will vote Republican this year.

John Brown (www.johnnorrisbrown.com) is a senior in political science and history at the University of Tennessee @ Knoxville. Contact him at johnnyb325@aol.com. This column originally appeared in the September 7, 2004 edition of The Daily Beacon, entitled "Republicans embrace all beliefs."