Wisconsin conservatives mourn the death of Jack Kemp

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Wisconsin conservatives are mourning the death of Jack Kemp, the former NFL quarterback who became a congressman and Bob Dole’s 1996 running mate.

Rep. Paul Ryan, R-Janesville, said Kemp recruited him to work at the Empower America think tank in 1993.

Ryan said Kemp brought “unparalleled passion and vigor to his life’s work of expanding opportunity for all.”

And Ryan said Kemp’s “infectious optimism” left a lasting impression on him.

Muriel Coleman, who now lives in Shorewood Hills near Madison, was an advisor in Kemp’s 1988 presidential campaign.

Coleman is on the board of the American Conservative Union, and said Kemp developed the tax cuts Ronald Reagan proposed when he won the presidency in 1980.

Kemp quarterbacked the Buffalo Bills in the 1960s, and then represented western New York in the U.S. House from 1971-89. He died from cancer on Saturday at age 73.

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