Got a late start on my morning blog jam session because I had to get the edited text for my book on the Ronald Reagan myth and all the other bells and whistles back to the publisher, Free Press. The runway has been cleared for publication just in time for Reagan Day -- Feb. 6 -- and when the cover art is finished I look forward to sharing it with everyone. Thanks for your patience when I took some time off to work on this project -- I'm very excited about the end result.
Anyway, it got me to wondering what the Gipper would think of the last two crazy weeks in American politics. After all, you'll probably hear the name "Reagan" involved about 14,000 times this week in St. Paul, and even Barack Obama claimed that the GOP icon was one of the models for his acceptance speech.
Really? I thought Obama's speech was a huge success politically, in finding just the right tone for taking the fight to John McCain and for spelling out his policies in greater detail. But I don't think it was very Reaganesque. The Great Communicator was a master at presenting a clear and simple agenda; in his successful 1980 acceptance speech that was lower taxes (mainly for the rich, but...), anti-Communism, and what history now shows was a shameful repudiation of Jimmy Carter's unpopular but forward looking energy policy, larded with his huge dallop of "sunny optimism." What were the comparable "three things" from Obama's speech? Hard to say, isn't it? What's more, Reagan used self-depriciating humor to connect with voters. Obama, um...doesn't.
As for the Sarah Palin mess, Reagan would probably pause and say, "Well..." He wouldn't be freaked out by the whole situation with the daughter, since God knows he had enough issues with his own kids. That said, does anyone really believe that Reagan would have tapped the untested Alaska governor for vice president? Sure, his vice presidential selection process in Detroit was much more chaotic and last-minute than it should have been, but in the end he went with pragmatism, and with experience. In George H.W. Bush, he choose a man who'd been a congressman, head of the Republican National Committee, envoy to China, director of the CIA, and a vetted candidate for president.
McCain went with the mayor of Wasilla.
And one reason that McCain chose Palin over the guys he wanted -- Joe Lieberman and Tom Ridge -- is that he was too weak to handle a revolt from the right-wing base of his party. Reagan, on the other hand, kept a promise that he made in that 1980 election to pick the first woman for the Supreme Court, and not only did Sandra Day O'Connor prove to be a highly qualified choice, but Reagan brushed off conservatives who believed -- accurately as it turned out -- that she wasn't sufficiently anti-abortion. In spite of that, those same conservatives mostly still worship at the Reagan shrine.
I don't see any bronze statues in John McCain's future.
Will I really think you should reread your posts before posting.. I really hate how you force me to agree with the haters by being so daft. "McCain went with the mayor of Wasilla." Not so. McCain went with the Governor of Alaska.— Politburo- Yes, Will, anytime McCain does anything it is because he is weak. Fine. (Forget that McCain and Palin are both accomplished reformers who have taken on their party to make government more honest. It must be because McCain is a wimp!) Obama is a big strong guy, though. That is why he picked a veep whose qualifications mirror those of his rival for the office. What a tough guy! *Sarcasm off*— bon
- what are all you right wing people going to do after Obama and Biden sweep to victory in November? Jon Stewart was correct a while ago when he said Republicans love America, they just hate half the people who live here. Guess what? We love America as much as you do, we just have a different vision that is not all war, that is not all keep the people scared all the time, that is not all in favor of the Corporate Media Military Industrial Complex. We would like accountability for this criminal administration.— Some Boca Dude
- "The Democrats went with a community organizer."— kev
Comment removed.- bon, step out of the talking points and tell us what Palin "reformed".— RG
- Comment removed.
- Comment removed.
- "In George H.W. Bush, he choose a man who'd been a congressman, head of the Republican National Committee, envoy to China, director of the CIA, and a vetted candidate for president." Reagan actually was considering Gerald Ford before he settled on Bush the Elder. And as it turns out, Bush the Elder squandered Reagan's legacy. And set up his own form of dynastic politcs that IMO is a major problem in this country (Clintons, Gores, Bushes, Doles, Romneys, and so forth). Not your best talking point, Will. Palin is more along the line of a Teddy Roosevelt pick - TR was governor of New York for two years and a police commissioner before that. The GOP elders didn't want him because he was a reformer, just as Palin took on the corrupt GOP in Alaska.— db_cooper
- Forget that, tell us what McCain reformed. I'll give you a free one: BCRA (which doesn't really seem to have 'reformed' anything, but that's another debate).— Politburo
- "Not so. McCain went with the Governor of Alaska." Good point, Politburo. It would be like Sean Hannity referring to Obama as a state senator from Illinois while ignoring that he is currently a US Senator. I really don't know what has gotten into Will. He continually complains about how corrupt politics has become. But he sure is joining the rush to attack and belittle an actual reformer. Too bad he can't stick with disussing Palin's stand on issues, but I guess all his talk of wanting reform is just that, talk. It's back to the partisan nonsense when the situtation requires it.— db_cooper
- RG: She passed sweeping ethics reform. She exposed conflicts of interests on the very influential Alaska Oil and Gas Conservation Commission and got those with them thrown off. These are not abstractions. She did these things. Are you trying to argue that passing ethics reform and exposing corruption are sopmehow unrelated to reform? (By contrast, Obama has done nothing, btw.)— bon
- Politburo: McCain wrote, championed and passed campaign finance reform. McCain wrote, championed and passed tobacco regulation reform. McCain has voted to ban earmarks and exposed and prosecuted those involved in the Abramoff scandal. McCain exposed corruption in a tanker deal that saved taxpayers hundreds of millions of dollars. Again, these are things McCain has done. Concrete examples. (Obama can offer none, because he has none.)— bon
- she supported the bridge to nowhere before she was against it. she believes that abortion, even in the case of rape or incest, should not be allowed. she wants to open ANWR to drilling. she does not believe the polar bear should be classified as an endangered species. she believes in teaching abstinence, instead of contraception and protection. and look how well that worked out. she is uniquely unqualified to be a heart beat away from being the President.— Some Boca Dude
- Ruedrich was fined but later reconfirmed as state GOP chair, and Renkes resigned. Neither were thrown off. She also signed an ethics bill into law, that can hardly be construed as sweepign reform. Obama garnered support for a similiar bill when in the IL Senate. Oh, and she was for the bridge before she was against it, and kept the $200 mil in federal funds that was meant for the project.— RG
Will Bunch, a senior writer at the Philadelphia Daily News, blogs about his obsessions, including national and local politics and world affairs, the media, pop music, the Philadelphia Phillies, soccer and other sports, not necessarily in that order.
E-mail Will by clicking here.
PLEASE COMMENT WITH PASSION...
...but not with racial slurs, potentially libelous allegations, obscenities or other juvenile noise. Such comments will, at our discretion, be deleted in their entirety, and repeat offenders will be blocked from commenting. ALSO: Any commenter advocating killing any government official will be immediately banned.
Thanks.
- Atrios
- Kiko's House
- Suburban Guerilla
- Booman Tribune
- All-Spin Zone
- Philly (Dragonballyee)
- Afro-Netizen
- Rowhouse Logic
- MyDD
- Bad Attitudes
- Billmon
- iFlipFlop
- CorrenteWire
- upyernoz
- Tattered Coat
- Fables of the Reconstruction
- Slacktivist
- Citizen Mom
- The Next Mayor
- Philly Future
- Philadelphia Will Do
- Philebrity
- Young Philly Politics
- Phillyblog
- Welcome to Phillyville
- Phawker
- A List of Things Thrown Five Minutes Ago
- Keystone Blog
- Philadelphia - America's Hometown
- BlankBaby
- Above Average Jane
- Phillyist
- Metroblogging Philadelphia
- The Clog
- Josh Marshall
- Daily Kos
- Juan Cole
- Oliver Willis
- Andy Borowitz
- War and Piece
- Wonkette
- BuzzFlash
- Raw Story
- Cursor
- Crooks and Liars
- Swing State Project
- Kevin Drum
- Talk Left
- AmericaBlog
- Hullabaloo
- Mad Kane
- Think Progress
- Jesus' General
- The Carpetbagger Report
- Majikthise
- Echidne of the Snakes
- David Sirota
- Glenn Greenwald
- TBogg
- Fire Dog Lake
- Taylor Marsh
- Matthew Yglesias
- Jon Swift
- Drudge Report
- Beer Leaguer
- The 700 Level
- Dick Polman
- Balls, Sticks and Stuff
- Shallow Center
- Philling Station
- Phillies Nation
- A Citizen's Blog
- The Good Phight
- Romenesko
- Editor and Publisher
- Pressthink
- Buzzmachine
- The Inksniffer
- Media Bloodhound
- Eat the Press
- Mickey Kaus
- Media (Huffington Post)
- Blinq
- The Corner
- Instapundit
- Andrew Sullivan
- Free Republic
- James Taranto
- Blonde Sagacity
- ScrappleFace
- Blogorrhea
- February
- January
- December 2011
- November 2011
- October 2011
- September 2011
- August 2011
- July 2011
- June 2011
- May 2011
- April 2011
- March 2011
- February 2011
- January 2011
- December 2010
- November 2010
- October 2010
- September 2010
- August 2010
- July 2010
- June 2010
- May 2010
- April 2010
- March 2010
- February 2010
- January 2010
- December 2009
- November 2009
- October 2009
- September 2009
- August 2009
- July 2009
- June 2009
- May 2009
- April 2009
- March 2009
- February 2009
- January 2009
- December 2008
- November 2008
- October 2008
- September 2008
- August 2008
- July 2008
- June 2008
- May 2008
- April 2008
- March 2008
- January 2008
- News | Sports | Business | What's Happening | Restaurants & Food | Entertainment | Living | Marketplace | Jobs
