Posted on 03/07/2010 10:30:01 AM PST by 2ndDivisionVet
Since he left office, Republicans running for president have been trying to claim the mantle of Ronald Reagan in order to connect to the bulk of GOP voters who still have great admiration and affection for the Gipper.
As Stephen Hayward points out in this piece in the Washington Post, Reagan's pragmatic idealism, his ease in public, and his heartfelt conservatism would have made him a fan of Sarah Palin:
This populist undercurrent is why I am certain that Reagan would have been an enthusiastic supporter of the tea party movement. While the tea partiers confuse the media and annoy the establishments of both political parties, Reagan would have seen them as reviving the embers of what he called the "prairie fire" of populist resistance against centralized big government -- resistance that helped touch off the tax revolt of the 1970s. That movement was often dismissed as a tantrum, but when The Washington Post called California's 1978 antitax Proposition 13 "a skirmish," Reagan replied that if so, then the Chicago fire was a backyard barbecue.
And who might be able to tap into the potent brew of the tea party? Right now the leading candidate is undoubtedly Palin, whom Reagan would probably have cheered on and surely would have had no problem voting for should she secure the GOP presidential nomination. Like Reagan, she has enormous charisma and a populist style. At her best, such as on the "Tonight" show last week, she shares his self-assurance and ease in front of a crowd. Like Reagan, she hails from outside the political establishment and does not crave the approval of the elite; rather, she seems to thrive on their disapproval.
Like Reagan, Palin consciously speaks in ways appealing more to principle than to party. And like Reagan, she divides people across the political spectrum. Her "death panels" broadside against Obama may have seemed like cheap demagoguery, but it resembled Reagan's attack against the Panama Canal treaties in 1978: "We built it, we paid for it, it's ours, and we're keeping it!"
I would note that Reagan was a lot more popular within the Republican party than Sarah Palin is today, although that might be a product of the Gipper's longevity, being at the forefront of the conservative movement for a couple of decades before being elected president.
Regardless, there is little doubt that Reagan would have been a big cheerleader for the tea party movement - if he had not been afflicted with Alzheimer's. Similarly, though he would be 99 years old today, does anyone doubt he wouldn't be out on the hustings criticizing Obama and rallying conservatives to fight the president's agenda?
I've been trying to convince my fellow conservatives that they have been wasting their time in a fruitless quest for a new Ronald Reagan to emerge and lead our party and our nation. I insisted that we'd never see his like again because he was one of a kind. I was wrong!
Wednesday night I watched the Republican National Convention on television and there, before my very eyes, I saw my Dad reborn; only this time he's a she. And what a she!
This was Ronald Reagan at his best -- the same Ronald Reagan who made the address known now solely as "The Speech," which during the Goldwater campaign set the tone and the agenda for the rebirth of the traditional conservative movement that later sent him to the White House for eight years and revived the moribund GOP.
Welcome back, Dad, even if you're wearing a dress and bearing children this time around.
~Michael Reagan, radio host and son of President Ronald Reagan
Would he vote for her over Romney or McCain?
Absolutely.
Yeppers...
:)
Reagan would only support Palin.
If Sarah Palin runs... she will win.
If Obama is allowed to continue doing what he’s been doing, short of a bloody civil war... our country will fail.
God bless our country... again.
Sarah is the ONLY Repub I could support at this point... and I’m sure the Gipper would second that!
That makes two of us!
I suspect a large percentage of Tea Party purists would find some excuse not to vote for Reagan himself if he showed up today.
Hmmmmmmmmmmmmmmm
I voted for Ronald reagan in 1980 and 1984...
If I get no invites to Tea Parties, I wont care...
I voted for Reagan in 1980 and 1984. I will vote for Palin. I will not, however, vote for Romney under any circumstances.
A short trip down memory lane.
I sure miss those days...... so damn bad.
A short trip down memory lane.
I sure miss those days...... so damn bad.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yt1fYSAChxs&NR=1
I worked for President Reagan and miss him as much as my late father. He wasn’t perfect, but his face belongs on Mount Rushmore as one of our greatest leaders, IMO.
If it’s Romney versus Obama in 2012:
http://www.LivingInThePhilippines.com
Is Galt’s Gulch in the Pacific?
I made my statement fully aware that the alternative is likely to be Obama. There’s not enough difference between the two to make it worth tarnishing Conservatives even more.
another day, another Palin thread. Sorry, love the lady but hate her as a candidate.
Same here. Reagan was the first preisdent I voted for. He was the right man at the right time for the right job.
Palin isnt Reagan, but then again, neither is any of the RINOS bumping and grinding for the job. There cant be another Reagan, just as there cant be another Patton or LeMay. But Palin come closest to mark so far.
Say no to RINOs.
Get used to it, your people said the same about Reagan.
Disclaimer: Opinions posted on Free Republic are those of the individual posters and do not necessarily represent the opinion of Free Republic or its management. All materials posted herein are protected by copyright law and the exemption for fair use of copyrighted works.