Replies

“But while the parallels between them are evident, it is far from clear that Palin appreciates Reagan’s discipline and substantive grand strategy.”

I agree that Palin is not a carbon copy of Reagan. But one of the knocks on Reagan were his lack of discipline, his refusal to moderate his positions to suit the Establishment. The other component of the lack of discipline charge, which was unfair, was that Reagan was not well prepared and lazy (Reagan used to joke about that himself) and was given to simplistic, but easy to grasp, answers, such as, “Trees cause more pollution than people do.” I don’t think Palin is unprepared, and her facebook posts and speeches show otherwise. I think she believes, with Reagan, that a President should sound broad themes: smaller government, low taxes, energy independence and lifting America’s spirits. The details can easily be filled in later.

Second, as far as a “Grand Strategy”, I think She is sounding the same themes as Reagan and doing them with style and panache. Her political strategy is, I believe, superior to Reagan’s. Reagan’s campaign manager, John Sears, was a conventional Establishment operative , much like Steve Schmitt. He ran cautious campaigns in both 1976 and 1980. Although he took credit for Reagan’s near nomination in 1976, his rope a dope strategy in Iowa led to Reagan’s upset loss to Ford there which ignited a string of defeats in NH, Illinois and Florida that had Reagan on the brink of elimination. It was Jesse Helms’ assistance in North Carolina that brought Reagan back from the dead, not Sears. In 1980, Reagan again turned to Sears, lost Iowa using the same failed 1976 strategy and, at this point, Reagan demoted and then got rid of Sears just in the nick of time.

Palin, having had the benefit and experience of running on a national ticket, something that Reagan never had before 1980, is wise to the Schmitt/Sears brand of GOP operative and She will not repeat the mistakes Reagan made in 1976 and early in 1980. She is is already following a playbook which I would call “post Sears/Schmitt”. I would say that at this point her political grand strategy is ahead of Reagan’s based upon her invaluable experience on the 2008 ticket and her knowledge of how the RINO establishment works.