by Patrick J Buchanan – February 9, 2004

“There is no right to strike against the public safety by anybody, anywhere, any time.” With that sentence in a letter to Sam Gompers of the AFL, denouncing the Boston police strike of 1919, Gov. Calvin Coolidge electrified a nation and found himself on the Republican ticket in 1920.

When Warren Harding collapsed and died in 1923, Silent Cal was president. His career, said a wag, showed signs of celestial intervention. Massachusetts Gov. Mitt Romney may not see it, but he has today a like opportunity to electrify conservatives and vault himself into contention for the Republican nomination for president in 2008.