WEll he is certainly more conservative than Ronald Reagan. Reagan claimed his political heros were Franklin Delano Roosevelt and John F. Kennedy.
Reagan spent 35 years of his life as a registered democrat and gave large sums of money and campaigned for FDR, HST, Stevenson, and JKF.
It was in 1962 or 63 that Cap Weinburger and Ed Meese thought if Reagan switched to the Republican party he could defeat Democrat Governor Brown in 1966. The problem was how to overcome the certain RINO image that Reagan was sure to get. NO RINO could get the Republican nomination.
There were few Republicans that wanted to get near Barry Goldwater in 1964. They felt he was the kiss of death. but Cap and Ed Meese decided that if Reagan contacted Goldwater and offered to give a prime time speech that a RINO coming out for Goldwater might help Goldwater pick up a few votes.
So Goldwater gave Reagan a prime time speech at the Republican convention Rather, Cronkite and Browkaw heard how good Reagan spoke and decided the way to end his life as a politician was to paint him as a Goldwater clone. So they did. And Reagan in one speech went from a far left RINO to a Goldwater Republican with out changing a view.
That gave him an easy primary victory in 1966 but he spent the 1966, 1970 and 1980 campaigns trying to convince swing voters that he was really a RINO.
Reagan in his years in office doubled the natioal debt. Had his buddy Democrat Speaker of the House Tip O’Neal over the the white house weekly. Reagan after 1964 never once met with or invited Barry Goldwater to vist him.
I covered the 1980 Reagan Campaign in the mid-west. The reporters had a bet on who could get him to say the words “Senator Goldwater” first. No one ever did. The winner of the money was a reporter who got reagan to say “The Senator from Arizona.”.. but Reagan would not call Goldwater by name.
Reagan in his 1980 campaign stump speech claimed that he was the only candidate for president that was a member in good standing of a Union and who had been elected twice to the presidency of his local union.
Reagan claimed in his stump speech that he had no love for big business. And that he had not ever left the Democratic party.. His views had not changed from the days of FDR and Kennedy. He said the Democratic party had left him.
Bush is far more conservative than Reagan ever was. Reagan was just a much better speaker and good at telling any audience what that audience wanted to hear.
Bush is 10 times more conservative than Reagan. Reagan doubled the national debt and doubled goverment spending...
He was not conservative.
Bush is!!!
Here's a good knee-slapper, RM.
“Bush is 10 times more conservative than Reagan. Reagan doubled the national debt and doubled goverment spending...”
Just damn man.
Reagen was better than Bush.
BTW while still a dem he was for Ike and Nixon.
Is this a joke?