Posted on 02/14/2008 2:14:33 PM PST by smoothsailing
Ronald Reagan Would Back McCain
By Michael Reagan
Thursday, February 14, 2008
In 1976 the Ford vs. Reagan campaign for the Republican presidential nomination got so heated it looked as if my father and Jerry Ford would never again talk to one another.
When it was over and Ford had won, what did Ronald Reagan do? He simply went all-out to help Ford win his re-election, as did I and as did my sister Maureen. My dad simply followed his rule of backing the Republican candidate no matter who he was.
Assuming that John McCain will be the Republican nominee, you can bet my father would be itching to get out on the campaign trail working to elect him even if he disagreed with him on a number of issues.
Unlike my father, a lot of conservatives stayed home in 1976, and we got four years of Jimmy Carter, whose main legacy was to drive the Shah of Iran from power and create the Islamic Republic of Iran with a bunch of wild-eyed mullahs running the show. He also gave us 20 percent inflation and long, long lines at the gas pumps. And don't forget 440 days of Americans held hostage by the mullahs.
By staying home those conservatives made possible the future election of Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad.
We are still suffering from the legacy of James Earl Carter, thanks to the conservatives who refused to follow Ronald Reagan's example and instead sulked at home while the nation was being handed over to the worst president in American history.
We were still in the middle of the Cold War in those days, and by staying home conservatives risked losing that war by allowing an incompetent leader to become commander in chief.
Four years later Ronald Reagan took over, the hostages were immediately released, and he went on to win the Cold War. Now we have another world-wide war going on with a hidden enemy sworn to kill us all, and the policy of the Democrats running for the presidency is to throw up their hands and withdraw from the battlefield, leaving it to the enemy -- and our fate in the hands of Osama bin Laden.
Is that what the let's-stay-home-on-election-day conservatives want? Do they want the most liberal member of the U.S. Senate, Barack Obama, as their president? Do they want the pseudo-Marist Barack Obama -- who reportedly has a photo of the murderous Castroite thug Che Guevara hanging in his Houston, Texas campaign headquarters -- hanging that photo in the Oval Office?
Do they want Hillary Clinton, the duplicitous former first lady, back in the White House enjoying all those furnishings she and her husband tried to swipe from the mansion?
Do they want a Democrat spending even more money that the government doesn't have on scores of programs right out of Karl Marx's playbook?
That's exactly what they'll get if they sit out the election and stay home on Election Day. That's called biting off your nose to spite your face. Or even more to the point, political suicide.
Let me say this. There has been plenty of battling in the primaries, and I've been in the middle of the battle, but until now haven't committed myself to any candidate, waiting until we had a nominee.
That's over.
If John McCain is the nominee of the party, this Reagan will happily campaign with him. The alternative is unthinkable to anyone who loves this nation.
...................................................
Michael Reagan, the eldest son of Ronald Reagan, is heard daily by over 5 million listeners via his nationally syndicated talk radio program, “The Michael Reagan Show.”
Copyright © 2006 Salem Web Network. All Rights Reserved.
Hussein will withdraw our troops from the fight against the Islamofascists. McCain will continue to press the fight.
Sure immigration is a big issue that warrants hold McCain accountable, but out victory in the GWOT is far more important.
Gee, Michael, seems to me your dad fought like hell to get the nomination.
After the convention, he worked for the nominee.
We haven’t had the convention yet. So this is not a relevant example yet.
Besides,at least Gerry Ford was a loyal Republican. McCain is not.
You need a better analogy.
How can anybody destroy Ronald Reagan ?
What he was and did is in the history books, the moving hand has written.
And this is his son writing.
And this is just plain self-indulgent wishful thinking -
“You’re going down in November”
Its not “you”, its “we”. We are all in the same boat, this all is about reality, not rhetoric or “feelings” and “insults”.
And this is plain silly -
“because that’s what we’re working on, and it doesn’t involve you.”
I am no “moderate” in any sense, but it is clear even to me taht its just plain impossible to run from the fringe, even my fringe. A statement like this is pure fantasy or pure gas.
Besides, Ford was a pro-choice Republican who gave us Justice John Paul Stevens. While he has alot of defects, McCain is pro-life.
He would against Hillary or Obama. But I doubt he would against Romney, maybe not against Huckabee.
Very good statement. That’s what Ronald Reagan would do.. he’s a team player too.
There is no indication McCain will fight the war on terror. None.
In two key parts of that, waterboarding and Guantanamo he’s sides with Democrats. I’m not falling for the whitewash that because he’s a veteran means he’ll fight the war on terror.
VERY well put. I thought about that recently. The men who will become president in the next 10-15 years are probably already public figures in some regard. They may not be nationally known but they are out there. People like Bobby Jindal maybe, but it will take some years of seasoning before he's ready for POTUS. I don't know who is on the bench for the GOP right now that looks good for 2012.
He would have voted for Thompson when it had a chance to mean something.
Retreating from Iraq, will inevitably lead to a more emboldened and empowered Iran. Iran could use their stronger position to threaten oil supplies, or attack or coerce Israel. If you do not believe that can have serious implications for this country, you are delusional.
Yes.
Exactly which conservative principle is that you think makes a person a "crazy uncle"?
Other than the gross fallacy of "veteran = tough on terrorists", what exactly have we seen to date that suggests this to be true?
More of the 'they're just stupid' arguments. Man-o-man, the 'back the GOP' crowd knows how to win over an audience.
My lack of voting for McCain says that I have principles. I will go down in flames over principles versus party. That is not a 'stupid' point. You may disagree with it but stop demeaning people. Our no-vote stand is reasoned and well thought out.
Waterboarding was effective when a detainee thought that they were going to drown. Every terrorist knows by now what waterboarding is. So it's basically irrelevant what a POTUS would allow it or not.
That's putting in mildly. Dole didn't have ANY appeal. As soon as he lost the election he became this fun, joking, lovable guy with personality and charm. As a candidate he was like a cadaver.
Exactly. There comes a time when you have to draw a line in the sand, and this is it. The GOP establishment has made a habit of knifing conservatives in the back election after election. Perhaps its time to remind the GOP establishment that movement conservatives are an integral part of the GOP coalition, and that without them, you don't elect Presidents.
Frankly, the "stupid" people are the ones who are hyperventilating and practically giving themselves ulcers because of the idea that we might get Hillary or Obama. Look, we survived eight years of WJC, we can survive 4 of HRC or BHO. Who knows - what this country might need is a good dose of raw, unadulterated leftism to remind enough people why they elected Republicans in 1994 and 2000 - and to remind Republicans of how it is you build and keep the Reagan coalition (hint - it's not moving to the Left).
And Ford wouldn't shut up about how pro-choice he was. I remember him on Larry Kind lamenting "what's happened to my party?" Meaning obviously how he thought only "crazies" were pro-life.
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