One more delusional character fails to take note that Trump’s platform is essentially Reagan’s platform, with a border wall and repatriation added in.
Reagan’s legacy is therefore more alive than it has been since G. H. W. Bush was sworn in.
Damn shame huh Lefties.
Let’s recall that you folks despised Reagan. Now you use his name to trash someone who believes as he did.
Shameful!
That isn’t true. Reagan ran on a less govt. Message. Trump doesn’t say more he says smarter. Trump doesn’t say less, he says better. Trump doesn’t talk about people taking control of their lives he talks about winning.
Though all very positive it’s not a conservative message and it isn’t Reagan’s message. Trump is an individual but he does not speak about the US as a nation of rugged individuals...
Perhaps a review of what a biographer says about what makes a person a Reagan conservative. I see at least three (maybe more) attributes lacking in Donald Trump. It is written that a true Regan conservative believes:
• Freedom
• Faith
• Family
• Sanctity and Dignity of Human Life
• American Exceptionalism
• The Founders’ Wisdom and Vision
• Lower Taxes
• Limited Government
• Peace Through Strength
• Anti-Communism
• Belief in the Individual
Reagan himself said, “The years when I was out on the mashed potato circuit (i.e., a popular dinner speaker) I was sometimes asked to define conservatism, and I must confess that while I have the cream of the conservative intellectual movement before me, I’m tempted to use Justice Potter Stewart’s definition. He gave it for another subject, by the way. He said he couldn’t define it exactly, but “I know it when I see it.”
The author of the book, Paul Kengor, wrote:
“So, when hearing a Republican presidential aspirant invoking the name of Ronald Reagan, consider whether the candidate shares Reagan’s faith-based optimism, his belief in the individual, his belief in American exceptionalism, his regard for the sanctity and dignity of unborn human life. Is the candidate the pessimist in the room full of toys or the optimist searching for the pony in the dung heap? Would the candidate submit the “foundational” and “divine institution” of the family to the harm of the latest cultural trend, dictate, fad, or fashion? If you hear a self-professing conservative heralding “freedom,” ask whether he or she believes that a self-governing nation can govern freely without the vital moral rudder that is faith. Can there be genuine freedom without faith? What did Tocqueville say? Reagan said what Tocqueville said.
“This, and more, is what a Reagan conservative would say.
“And finally, Reagan’s conservatism …was also an affirmation of his personal idea of America and what it means to be an American. Reagan said that America is less of a place than an idea. …Understanding Reagan’s conservatism also means understanding Reagan’s very concept of the idea of America. Really, then, to answer the question “What is a Reagan conservative?” is less a particular political lesson than an enduring civics lesson. It has value for all American citizens going forward.”
Me, and my house, are Reagan conservatives by this definition. I am not conservative merely to belong to a group. I am a conservative because the 11 principles define the fabric of my being.
There are a couple of prior posts (in 2014) dealing with this same title and book. The original article is at http://spectator.org/articles/58776/11-principles-reagan-conservative
Gwjack
Rush and others have made a career and a fortune telling people “all you need is conservatism”. If that were true, wouldn’t Cruz be the clear frontrunner? Trump has better identified and prioritized the issues and like Reaganis proposing pragmatic America-first solutions. One need only look at the number of nonmilitary federal employees during Reagan vs Obama to find proof that even Reagan was not able to fully implement a conservative agenda.
If you analyze it I believe the very heart and soul of conservatism is libertarianism.... The basis of conservatism is a desire for less government interference or less centralized authority or more individual freedom and this is a pretty general description also of what libertarianism is.
We should listen to Ronald Reagan when he talks about the very heart and soul of conservatism.
Reagan's heart and soul of conservatism—the libertarian heart and soul—is absent in Donald Trump. Where is there any libertarianism in Trump at all? He favors strong government and increased centralized authority.