Jeb Bush revealed that recently not only by his comments about the Reagan era being "over", but also in an interview he conducted with Craig Shirley for his book.
Shirley recounts that Jeb told the story of he and Reagan being at a campaign rally in North Dakota in 1980 where 8,000 rabid Reagan fans turned out to hear the Gipper. When it was Jeb's turn to talk about his father the place cleared out, leaving only about 200 to hear Bush.
The Bush family clearly has a long memory about stuff like this and what's going on with Palin and her crowds right now has got to sting.
I agree on the advice from Reagan if he were alive today. If she were to run and be nominated, the pressure from the establishment would be enormous. It would be fascinating to see what she would do. I love Bachmann, but I'm not sure two women on the ticket would be politically wise. I'd like to see someone with a strong military background. We shall see. Like you, I trust none of the other usual suspects mentioned.
The challenge to swing this party back towards the Reagan principles is a truly daunting one. Sarah Palin is the only one with a chance to pull it off.
Thanks for the anecdote about Jeb. I had never heard that one. I presume it was during the primary that it took place.
I think neither Nixon nor Bush ever got over the feeling that they were better than Reagan, smarter or whatever. Reagan was a genuinely good man, a humble man who didn’t hold grudges. He was also smarter than they were. He understood things that went right over their heads.
I think Palin is savvy like that. She is definitely a genuine, nice person with a fine character. That alone, even without the charisma and the skills, puts her head and shoulders above the rest.