Posted on 07/30/2003 5:44:56 AM PDT by Pikamax
Ron Reagan Jr. Steps Up to Bat With Left Chat by Joe Hagan
On Monday, July 28, Ron Reagan started a week-long run as guest co-host on MSNBCs Buchanan & Press, with the son of the former President sitting decidedly to the left of Pat Buchanan. But Mr. Reagan was doing more than just filling the seat of vacationing co-host Bill Press; he told The Observer that he hopes to anchor his own liberal-leaning talk show. And what better place to test his talking head than against Old Man Crossfire himself, the squinty-eyed hatchet man who, after all, worked for his father back in the day. Having spent the past three years hosting dog shows on the cable network Animal Planet, Mr. Reagan relishes the idea of going up against the bark and bite of the right wing.
"Id love to do another talk show, and Im talking to some other people about that," he said following his Buchanan & Press appearance. "Im still in the planning stages, and I think theres a lot of room for this. Despite this supposed liberal bias in the media, I can hardly find any on TV."
Mr. Reagan was invited to Buchanan & Press by the shows new executive producer, Tammy Haddad, who helped invent Larry King Live in 1985. Ms. Haddad said she met Mr. Reagan at the Republican National Convention in Philadelphia in 2000 and was impressed by the former ballet dancer and sometime TV presence.
"People think that there arent many good liberals out there that can carry a show," said Ms. Haddad. "We had dinner together and I thought, This guy is so good, he should be on TV. Im sure hell get offers after this. Lets hope he talks to MSNBC first."
MSNBC might want to act fast: Mr. Reagan said he was approached by two journalists associated with an "Internet entity" who were pitching, he said, an "unabashedly" liberal show to cable networks. "Weve had the conversations, and now were meeting people at various media outlets," he said, adding that the proposed show is of the time-honored sit-down variety, "with the telltale, piquant little bits like The Lie of the Week or a Right-Wing Momentlike Tom DeLay talking about teaching children about biology: We evolutized up from the mud! O.K., were in trouble as a country."
The show could be a tough sell. To date, the 45-year-old Mr. Reagan hasnt shown much prime-time promise. Since working as the "adventure correspondent" on ABCs Good Morning America in the late 1980s, the thin, affable, occasionally acid-tongued Son of the Gipper has mostly bummed around the cable dial. After The Ron Reagan Show, a syndicated late-night chat-fest, failed to take off in 1991, he worked as a producer and host on E!, hosted a computer show for Cnet, did documentary voice-overs for the History Channel and co-hosted Foxs short-lived newsmagazine Front Page. Things have been a bit better over at Animal Planet, where, he said, his pooch program gets the highest ratings on the network. Still, hes yet to equal the sensation he caused during his fathers second administration when he hosted NBCs Saturday Night Live and danced around the stage in his tighty-whities in a Risky Business skit.
Lately, hes been edging back into the political fray. Mr. Reagan first went on MSNBC as Mr. Buchanans guest in April to discuss George W. Bush. During the Iraq war, Mr. Reagan described the Bush administration as "overly reaching, overly aggressive, overly secretive and just plain corrupt. I dont trust these people."
For his part, Mr. Buchanan, the former director of communications for Reagan père, said hed made the younger Reagans acquaintance years ago.
"Ive not known him well, but I saw him when I was out at his dads place in Pacific Palisades in 1976, when he was a teenager," Mr. Buchanan said, adding, "His fathers a great hero of mine."
Mr. Reagan said he knew liberals arent known for being great TV.
"I think the bar is set higher for liberals," he said. "Its easy to be Ann Coulter."
Regarding Ms. Coulters recent comment about Joseph McCarthy being an American patriot, for instance, Mr. Reagan said that "to dignify those remarks by refuting them takes time. Conservatives have it easy: They just blurt out some nonsense."
In preparation for the July 28 broadcast of Buchanan & Press, MSNBCs Web site promised: "Sparks fly when Pat and guest host Ron Reagan Jr. tackle the controversy over Americas first gay high school." But the sparks came mostly from Mr. Buchanan, who had the benefit of his trademark bark and tomahawk-chop gesture.
Mr. Reagan was smooth enough, but he didnt leap off the screen. He did get in a slightly school-marmish jab at conservative guest Michael Long when he said: "Hey, Mike, I cant help but notice that anything involving gay people gets you conservatives panties in a real twist. Why is that?" Then he cocked his head and looked quizzical for effecta little too quizzical, maybe, but it seemed like a workable riff.
In any case, Mr. Long used volume to bark Mr. Reagan down. "Dont play that kind of game with me, Ron!"
Mr. Buchanan ended things with the kind of zinger his audience laps up with a spoon. Talking about the gay-only Harvey Milk High School, he noted with a chuckle, "They might have a great football team!"
Ugly, but pure gravy to Americas channel surfers.
Tonight, Mr. Reagan sees if he can get Mr. Buchanan to fetch. [MSNBC, 43, 6 p.m.]
It also takes a mind, of which Ron, evidently, doesn't have.
It's UNSEEMLY to have a son go after a father this way. Even some liberals will think this is sickening and actually feel sorry for Ron AND Nancy....leaving Poofta Boy out in the cold.
Memo to Ron: Stick to the boys at the kennel club.
Oh what an awful idea to contemplate--it must have hurt you to type it.
Reminds me of my nightly prayer during the last years of the i42, that President Reagan would outlive that criminal regime...I heard that Nancy would have a private funeral rather than let the Clintons be involved.
Thats my point exactly, it's like you want to hold him tight and rock him and whisper in his ear, "it's all right, it will be all right.. if you start praying hard now my son, and keep it up until the end, you still could have a shot at purgatory".
Me too, me too! But of course we know Clinton will insert himself into any situation, what a shame former presidents get to do that so easily.
Nancy Reagan looks so frail, I imagine its a good thing all President Reagan's Funeral and Memorial Services plans have long been made and finalized.
Just for memory jog, I found this, cause we know no matter what President Bush does when President Reagan dies, the left will balk.
Let's remind em what Clinton did for Nixon, besides making a syrupy, hypocritical eulogy:
" Clinton declared a national day of mourning, and said he would attend Nixon's funeral, which will be held at the Richard Nixon Library and Birthplace in Yorba Linda, Calif., on Wednesday at 4 p.m. California time. The body of the former congressman, U.S. senator, vice president and president will travel aboard a presidential jet to his native California, and public viewing will be from 3 p.m. Tuesday until 11 a.m. Wednesday"
I adored Maureen, and unfortunately, she never got the credit she deserved for starting the trend of bright conservative women speaking out. She wasn't blonde, she wasn't svelte, but man oh man was she a fabulous voice for the right!
I'd like to see you try, Ron.
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.