What Would Reagan Do? By Rebecca Hagelin

Townhall.com ^ | 9 January 2008 | Rebecca Hagelin

[K-oneTexas]

What Would Reagan Do? By Rebecca Hagelin
Wednesday, January 9, 2008

“President Ronald Reagan.” We’re hearing a lot about him on the campaign trail these days. It seems everyone is invoking his name.

Why? Because they sense that Americans are looking for true leadership based on the bedrock principles of our Founding Fathers. The principles of limited government, a strong national defense, traditional values and individual freedom. Ronald Reagan proved that when you govern according to these conservative principles -- when you do not waiver -- when you are steadfast and true to freedom -- America flourishes.

Which brings us back to the thousands and thousands of candidates running for local, state and national offices this year. When pondering a policy question, they should ask themselves, What Would Reagan Do? The Heritage Foundation has partnered with talk show greats Sean Hannity and Laura Ingraham in a new year-long campaign to invite citizens and candidates to ponder this very question. There is no better role model to help navigate the choppy waters of politics, today and well into the future. Why? Because Reagan did more than simply take strong, effective positions -- he took positions based on the U.S. Constitution -- principles which never change. Principles as relevant to today’s issues as they were when penned by our nation’s founders. He proved that timeless values are just that … timeless.

Ronald Reagan won a resounding 44-state victory in 1980. In 1984, he won a 49-state landslide. Remember, all this occurred before there was a FOXNews, the World Wide Web, or talk radio to keep people informed. Reagan’s message reached the American people -- and he reached them right over the heads of an entrenched liberal media establishment.

How did he manage this? As Heritage President Ed Feulner summarizes:

“Ronald Reagan secured victory because he spoke powerfully to the American people about conservative principles -- which he would not compromise! He spoke of our Founding Fathers and promised to return government to the people. And he did. He captured the hearts and minds and spirits of the American people. And through his presidency, he governed by conservative principles. Not compromising. Not giving in to pressure. Never allowing the media to dictate his day or his policy.”

And when Reagan died in 2004, the American people showed that their love for him and all he stood for was undiminished. If anything, it had grown. They thronged the route of his funeral procession. Ordinary men and women waited for hours to file past his coffin and pay their last respects -- to thank the man who led our country so nobly, who won the Cold War without firing a shot, a leader who brought a sense of renewed purpose and genuine hope.

The liberal media have tried for years to remake Reagan as just a nice old man “sleepwalking through history,” to quote one critic. But the American people know better. They remember who went to the Berlin Wall and said, “Mr. Gorbachev, tear down this wall!” They recall his honesty and his courage. They know that the tax cuts he fought for allowed them to keep more of their own money. They haven’t forgotten who gave them back their government. Ronald Reagan’s legacy is defined by timeless principles, fearless leadership and visionary solutions.

I believe others can rise to the occasion and govern just as successfully as Reagan did. But we must remind them that it is impossible without resolve, courage and an undying commitment to constitutional principles. That’s why The Heritage Foundation, Sean and Laura seek to remind Americans that every politician’s promise, every proposed law, must be measured by one standard: the U.S. Constitution.

But if you’ve never read the Constitution … how will you know?

The Heritage Foundation is ready to arm you with your own copy of this essential document. Just go to heritage.org and click on “What Would Reagan Do?” There you can order, free of charge, a pocket-sized copy of the Constitution. (We’ll even pay the postage.) It’s more than just a tribute to a great president. It’s our way of ensuring that the flame of liberty kindled by our Founding Fathers continues to light the way for future generations of Americans.

Rebecca Hagelin, a vice president of The Heritage Foundation is the author of Home Invasion: Protecting Your Family in a Culture that's Gone Stark Raving Mad and runs the Web site HomeInvasion.org. Copyright © 2006 Salem Web Network. All Rights Reserved.

[MNJohnnie]

Ronald Reagan secured victory because he spoke powerfully to the American people about conservative principles -- which he would not compromise!

I am sorry but this fantasy land Talk Radio Reagan never existed in the real world. The real President Reagan could never of lived up to the standards being involked about him by today's "Conservative" media Establishment.

Reagan had advice for the sort of 100%er dogmatic purist "Conservatives" who are so busy invoking his name these days

By Ronald Reagan in his autobiography An American Life

“When I began entering into the give and take of legislative bargaining in Sacramento, a lot of the most radical conservatives who had supported me during the election didn’t like it. “Compromise” was a dirty word to them and they wouldn’t face the fact that we couldn’t get all of what we wanted today. They wanted all or nothing and they wanted it all at once. If you don’t get it all, some said, don’t take anything. I’d learned while negotiating union contracts that you seldom got everything you asked for. And I agreed with FDR, who said in 1933: ‘I have no expectations of making a hit every time I come to bat. What I seek is the highest possible batting average.’ If you got seventy-five or eighty percent of what you were asking for, I say, you take it and fight for the rest later, and that’s what I told these radical conservatives who never got used to it.”

[Friendofgeorge]

All that is true, he was a very good President,to bad he did not leave a pro life/pro family legacy on the high court as President Bush has.

[ex-snook]

Reagan would defend our economy against world predators like he did with Harley Davidson. He would pick Thompson to play him in some future movie.

[Bon mots]

Would he cry?

[gjones77]

There’s nothing in what he’s saying that isn’t true, and it doesn’t mean he waived from his convictions.

Regean was right about the most staunch conservatives, they are too dogmatic in their belief it’s their way or a highway.

In politics, and in life, sometimes you have to take what you can get and fight for more later, you have to pick and choose your battles, otherwise you’ll end up looking like some whiny whack job.

Too bad so many don’t understand what it takes to accomplish goals like ours in a realistic setting, those who refuse to compromise are the ones that usually get nothing done, and when their done, have nothing to show for the time they spent in office since they didn’t accomplish a damn thing other to look like a hard headed stubborn fool.

It’s during elections like this that I really miss Ronny, he always knew what to say to put the media and libs in their place.

[MNJohnnie]

Yeah, I miss the Greatest US President of the 21st Century too. He could bring people together like no one else has or will.He had a magic touch.

[cripplecreek]

Michael Reagan on Ronald Reagan and Duncan Hunter.
As Ann Coulter wrote in her new book, the best-qualified of all the candidates is Rep. Duncan Hunter. During the debate he was the candidate who provided the best information about the economy and had a first-rate suggestion of what we need to do.

He keyed in on what must be one of the most important economic issues – trade.

He talked about our shocking $800 billion trade deficit, and what the Chinese are doing to us. Duncan understands that when anybody cites Ronald Reagan as a free-trade advocate in defense of our present trade policies, they need to remember that in my dad's playbook, protection of the American people came before anything else.

Take the case of Harley-Davidson. My father protected this American manufacturer of motorcycles against lower-priced Japanese imports. When he acted in behalf of an American company, Kawasaki and Honda reacted by moving their plants to the U.S. and created American jobs for American workers.

His policy was so successful that although he gave five years of protective tariffs to Harley-Davison, they didn’t even need that long a time before they could turn their company around. Given a level playing field they proved their superiority as an American manufacturer.

Ronald Reagan did the same thing with semiconductors, and the auto and steel industries. He also forced the Japanese and others to open up their markets to American products so that trade would be fair. When that didn’t happen he would impose tariffs on those products coming into the U.S., thus protecting American manufacturers.

Sure, he was a free trader who wanted too open up trade, but he always sought first to protect the sovereignty of the United States and its manufacturing base. He did not confuse free trade with giving the store away.

The effects of our current trade policies and the horrendous trade deficit they have produced are a gun pointed at the heart of our economy, and the Republican who can stand up and tell the truth about this problem and its solutions will be the one who emerges from the pack.

http://www.townhall.com/columnists/MichaelReagan/2007/10/10/where%e2%80%99s_the_fire

[inkling]

I love the Gipper, but titling this thing "What Would Reagan Do?" is ridiculous. He's not Jesus, for crying out loud.

I think Ronnie himself would be disgusted by his over-the-top treatment.

[ex-snook]

Well done.