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Reagan's party no more
MSNBC ^ | Tue May 15, 2012 | Steve Benen

Posted on 05/15/2012 12:32:50 PM PDT by presidio9

President Obama caused a minor stir last month in a speech at the Associated Press luncheon, when he argued, "Ronald Reagan ... could not get through a Republican primary today."

This sparked some worthwhile discussion, but I've been especially struck by the number of Republicans who agree with the argument.

The Republican Party has drifted so far to the right and become so partisan in recent years that President Ronald Reagan wouldn't even want to be a part of it, former Nebraska GOP senator Chuck Hagel told The Cable.

"Reagan would be stunned by the party today," Hagel said in a long interview in his office at Georgetown University, where he now teaches. He also serves as co-chair of President Barack Obama's Foreign Intelligence Advisory Board.

Reagan wanted to do away with nuclear weapons, raised taxes, made deals with congressional Democrats, sought compromises and consensus to fix problems, and surrounded himself with moderates as well as Republican hard-liners, Hagel noted. None of that is characterized by the current GOP leadership, he said.

Hagel added that there were similar divisions in the early 1950s between Eisenhower Republicans and GOP extremists like Joe McCarthy, but the difference is, in 2012, "the extremists are winning."

Remember, Hagel's voting record in the Senate wasn't exactly Olympia Snowe's -- this guy's a conservative from a reliably-"red" state. And yet, he believes Reagan "wouldn't identify with this party."

A few weeks ago, former Utah Gov. Jon Huntsman (R) said the same thing. What's more, Mike Huckabee said a year ago, "Ronald Reagan would have a very difficult, if not impossible, time being nominated in this atmosphere of the Republican Party." Sen. Lindsey Graham (R-S.C.) had a nearly identical take in 2010, arguing Reagan "would have a hard time getting elected

-SNIP-

(Excerpt) Read more at maddowblog.msnbc.msn.com ...


TOPICS: Constitution/Conservatism; Editorial; Politics/Elections
KEYWORDS:
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1 posted on 05/15/2012 12:32:57 PM PDT by presidio9
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To: presidio9
"Ronald Reagan ... could not get through a Republican primary today."

That's true. Reagan is far too conservative for today's Republican Party. The elite, which foamed at the mouth to defeat him in 1980, would completely ostracize him today.

They'd say Mutt Romney was 'more electable'.

2 posted on 05/15/2012 12:34:53 PM PDT by Colonel_Flagg (Obama vs. Romney: Zero x Zero = Zero.)
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To: presidio9

Hagel was never a member of the party of Reagan. A RINO always.


3 posted on 05/15/2012 12:35:31 PM PDT by DarthVader (Politicians govern out of self interest, Statesmen govern for a Vision greater than themselves)
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To: presidio9

Capitulation is in the air over on the dark side.


4 posted on 05/15/2012 12:35:39 PM PDT by cicero2k
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To: Colonel_Flagg

is = was.

Though, come to think of it, even deceased Ronaldus Magnus is still more conservative than Romney.


5 posted on 05/15/2012 12:36:09 PM PDT by Colonel_Flagg (Obama vs. Romney: Zero x Zero = Zero.)
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To: presidio9
Ronald Reagan ... could not get through a Republican primary today.

I forget, are there any Republican primaries left where only registered Republicans get to vote?

6 posted on 05/15/2012 12:38:54 PM PDT by kingu (Everything starts with slashing the size and scope of the federal government.)
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To: presidio9

Palin, like Reagan, “made deals with congressional Democrats, sought compromises and consensus to fix problems, and surrounded himself with moderates as well as Republican hard-liners.” So why is Palin supported and the Republicans quoted in the article not supported by the grassroots of the Republican Party.

The difference is that while both Reagan and Palin were willing to make deals and compromise, they both had core beliefs and goals that they would not compromise.

In other words, compromise for Reagan and Palin is a means to a goal. To the RINOsm compromise is the goal.


7 posted on 05/15/2012 12:39:12 PM PDT by superdad (`)
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To: Colonel_Flagg

Reagan wasn’t sneaky and underhanded enough for the likes of Romney.


8 posted on 05/15/2012 12:41:09 PM PDT by cripplecreek (What does it profit a man if he gains the whole world but loses his soul?)
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To: presidio9

Chuck Hagel is a goof, and operated from the Arlen Specter wing of the Capitol. It a tiny wing with locked door and soft, white padding on the walls, for the record. George Voinovich was once seen there as well, accompanied by that pair of Pine Tree State loons.


9 posted on 05/15/2012 12:42:41 PM PDT by alstewartfan ( 27 of 36 Romney judicial appointments were DEMOCRATS!!!!!)
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To: Colonel_Flagg
Hardly. The "principled conservatives" would be wailing about how he signed an abortion bill as Governor and raised taxes and he's divorced and his son is gay and he's for amnesty and he was a registered Democrat for decades and he's from Hollyweird.

Reagan wouldn't stand a primary chance in Hell.

10 posted on 05/15/2012 12:43:36 PM PDT by Deb (Beat him, strip him and bring him to my tent!)
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To: presidio9

JFK could never be nominated by today’s Democratic Party. He was much too fiscally conservative and a strong anti-communist.


11 posted on 05/15/2012 12:43:51 PM PDT by Signalman ( November, 2012-The End of an Error)
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To: presidio9

About what you can expect from PMSNBC.


12 posted on 05/15/2012 12:44:49 PM PDT by mongo141 (Revolution ver 2.0, just a matter of when, not a matter of if!)
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To: presidio9

The party in Reagan’s time had moderate/liberal backstabbing republicans like Packwood, Specter, Weiker, Heinz, etc. who hated conservatives and their influence. Specter said he wasn’t voting for Bork and all the others hid behind his filthy skirt.

Good riddance to people who believe in liberalism light, who vote for every appropriation increase, tax increase, and debt ceiling increase.


13 posted on 05/15/2012 12:44:49 PM PDT by cotton1706
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To: presidio9

I’m waiting for a companion piece to be written about how extreme today’s Democrats are.

Still waiting.

Still waiting...

I’m old enough to remember a time when a significant percentage of elected Democrats loved America and hated Communism. Nowadays they’re an endangered species. The entire party has shifted so far to the left that the list of candidates endorsed by the Communist Party is pretty much indistinguishable from the list of Democrat candidates.


14 posted on 05/15/2012 12:47:23 PM PDT by Zeppo ("Happy Pony is on - and I'm NOT missing Happy Pony")
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To: presidio9

sour grapes


15 posted on 05/15/2012 12:51:48 PM PDT by Sybeck1 (If Romney needs my vote to win Mississippi, he is in a heck of a lot trouble more than me.)
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To: presidio9

If it’s decided to create a new party that would phase out the RINO Elitist Party I’d hope it would be the Founders Party. The name says it all.


16 posted on 05/15/2012 12:52:32 PM PDT by rockinqsranch (Dems, Libs, Socialists, call 'em what you will, they ALL have fairies livin' in their trees.)
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To: alstewartfan

This was that LAST good US Senator from Nebraska:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/J._James_Exon
EVERYONE since has been First Class Squishes and RINOs!


17 posted on 05/15/2012 12:54:26 PM PDT by US Navy Vet (Go Packers! Go Rockies! Go Boston Bruins! See, I'm "Diverse"!)
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To: Deb

You forget that many of the “principled conservatives” here that you mock and claim would not vote for Reagan have already done just that, they prove you ridiculously wrong by having already enthusiastically voting for him twice.

Some of us loved him so much that we went back into the military because of him, or enlisted for the first time.

Romney did not vote for him, he changed his party registration, and did not support Reagan, “principled conservative freepers” did support Reagan, and still do as Romney attacks him and his legacy.


18 posted on 05/15/2012 12:57:21 PM PDT by ansel12 (When immutable definition of Bible marriage of One Man, One Woman, is in jeopardy, call the Mormon.)
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To: presidio9
Reagan's Party No More

It wasn't Reagan's Party before he was elected President either.

19 posted on 05/15/2012 12:57:40 PM PDT by Steely Tom (If the Constitution can be a living document, I guess a corporation can be a person.)
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To: Deb

You and I must not have known the same Ronald Reagan.


20 posted on 05/15/2012 12:57:55 PM PDT by Colonel_Flagg (Obama vs. Romney: Zero x Zero = Zero.)
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