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American and Latin American Politics, Society, and Culture

January 18, 2008 By Fausta

Let’s put "Ronald Reagan" to rest, please

At Memeorandum this morning:
Reagan Advisers See A Bit Of Their Former Boss In Obama

Barack Obama found himself under fire on Thursday for having compared his candidacy to Ronald Reagan’s 1980 presidential run.

“I don’t want to present myself as some sort of singular figure,” he told the Reno Journal Gazette editorial board earlier this week. “I think part of what is different is the times. I do think that, for example, the 1980 election was different. I think Ronald Reagan changed the trajectory of America in a way that Richard Nixon did not and in a way that Bill Clinton did not.”

Obama’s claim to the Reagan mantle is small potatoes compared to the Republican candidates’.

When we were liveblogging the latest Republican debate at Heading Right last week we had a drinking contest where a glass was raised every time anyone said “Ronald Reagan”. Giuliani scored a perfect ten in one answer, but he wasn’t alone. It got to the point that Jazz Shaw ended up cryin’ uncle

Fausta, we’re out of tequila here
If Rudy and company say “Regan” anymore I’m going to have to start drinking Draino just to do more shots.

The Reagan comparison has to stop.

Thanks to Ronald Reagan our country has enjoyed unimaginable success with its enemies – witness the fall of the Berlin Wall, an event unimaginable in the Carter years – and tremendous economic prosperity. But that was back in the 20th Century. In the 21st Century the challenges are different: they must be met in a creative way, not in a carbon copy of the prior century’s.

Earlier this month I stated, and it bears repeating, that

All of the candidates are looking backwards. The Democrats’ idea of “change” translates to policies that are outdated and useless. The Republicans keep claiming the mantle of being “the next Ronald Reagan”. We do not need either. What we need is a President who will take America’s current challenges and bring America into greater prosperity, liberty and leadership in the world.

Being “the new Ronald Reagan” is the same as being “the new Abe Lincoln” or “the new Teddy Roosevelt”; they are all figures of the past that point out that the candidates are looking backwards.
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Filed Under: Democrats, politics, Republicans

Comments

  1. yidwithlid says

    January 18, 2008 at 10:13 am

    But wait..I was telling people that Obama will be the new economic Jimmy Carter, time for a good malaise speech

  2. Fausta says

    January 18, 2008 at 10:20 am

    Speaking of Jimmy, how about the Huckster? Every time he opens his mouth Jimmy comes out.

  3. Conservative Belle says

    January 18, 2008 at 10:33 am

    yidwithlid makes a good point. We want to denegrate liberal candidates by comparison. Isn’t it interesting though that none of the Democrats point to a fellow Democrat and say “Gee you are just like Ronald Reagan” as a form of insult? Or for that matter, they don’t compare a fellow Democrat to Jimmy Carter as a form of compliment.

    I think we can talk about conservative principles, as exemplified by past presidents, but to constantly invoke their names seems excessive. I like to look for nuances in a candidate’s style or manner that are similar to Reagan, but there is no need to go on ad nauseum. Agreed.

  4. Sigmund, Carl and Alfred says

    January 18, 2008 at 11:09 am

    I’m with Conservative Belle.

    The here and now is lot more important than what once was. Conservatives ought not be perceived as living in the past.

    Leftists talk about a utopia- and that has never served them well, either.

    The here and now is what effects voters most. A clear understanding of current realities can produce a clear plan to better our society.

    Talk of the past or Utopian dreams have never produced good government.

  5. Fausta says

    January 18, 2008 at 11:31 am

    Talk of the past or Utopian dreams have never produced good government.
    Indeed, as you and ShrinkWrapped have recently pointed out, the road to hell is made of Utopian dreams.

  6. Nicki says

    January 18, 2008 at 11:33 am

    Great post, Fausta! 🙂

  7. Dymphna says

    January 18, 2008 at 12:55 pm

    I’ll play devil’s advocate here. Though I do my best to avoid listening or reading *any* political “news”, some of still manages to sneak past my barricade.

    [First, and a little OT… when BillHill was running the first time and appeared in the NH primary, I knew nothing about him. A friend — a political whizkid — told me that Bill was an empty suit and that the MSM (though we didn’t use that expression then) loved him so there was no question he would win. I haven’t called him yet to find out who’s going to win this one]

    As far as Ronald Reagan’s name being invoked, I think what these pols are trying to say is that they can meet today’s problems with the kind of fortitude and resilence that RR displayed. They want the form, but definitely not the content. Can you imaginge BO demanding supply-side economics, or building up our armed forces, or confronting the bad guys…BO thinks our way out of Iran is to talk to them. Gag me.

    And RR used religious imagery and metaphor, which none of these guys can do except in a ham-handed way.

    The real reason they invoke Reagan is because he appeared on the scene when Jimmy Carter was at his nadir. Bush is at his low spot, discredited and loathed by many (though I think history will redeem his reputation). Thus this campaign is reminiscent of the Carter debacle.

    Since BO can’t come right out and echo “it’s a new morning for America,” he’s reduced to talk about “change” and “hope.”

    And, needless to say, no one can ask “are you better off than you were four years ago” because many, many people are.

    I’m waiting to hear a (I guess Republican) intone “Build That Wall.”

    Glad it’s not Lent yet, because I’m giving up even discussing any aspect of the campaign starting on Shrove Tuesday. As in “what campgain?”

    That will be hard, since people do write and ask why we don’t cover the ‘race’…to which I answer “because it is in the same league of gravitas as discussing Brittney Spears…”

    Now come October, we’ll join the chorus of analyzers and predictors, but not till then…she said with a sigh of relief…

  8. Beth says

    January 18, 2008 at 2:27 pm

    These guys need to spend a little more time listening to Newt Gingrich. It’s 2008, not 1980, and the Reagan Era *is* over. It’s a VERY different world now.

    Obama’s right about this much:
    “Ronald Reagan changed the trajectory of America”
    He did. But what he changed does NOT APPLY to the current world. We need new ideas for a new reality!

  9. Fausta says

    January 18, 2008 at 2:35 pm

    Can you imaginge BO demanding supply-side economics, or building up our armed forces, or confronting the bad guys
    Not at all. All I’ve heard from the Dem candidates is “cut and run, and run faster”.

    We need new ideas for a new reality!
    Yes!
    Why is it that there is no politician among the Pres. candidates that either
    a. doesn’t recognize this
    or
    b. doesn’t dare articulate it?

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