When Moammar Gadhafi was under siege in 2011, Rick Santorum said: “Ronald Reagan bombed Libya”.
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Engaging in such speculation is, of course, a futile effort.
“Ronald Reagan spoke to America in parables”, Michael Reagan added.
Unfortunately, the answer to that question includes numerous actions of Reagan’s would-be successors. I mean, half the population out there is gonna vote, have no idea who Ronald Reagan was or is.
Walker took aim at Trump, famous for hosting the reality game show “The Apprentice” from 2004 through this year, shortly after the debate kicked off Wednesday night. “It’s the people who didn’t know him who find it so easy to say exactly what he would do”, says Sal Russo, a Republican strategist and tea party mastermind who worked as Reagan’s personal aide during his tenure as California governor in the 1960s and 1970s.
GOP front-runner Donald Trump will be flanked by Jeb Bush, Ben Carson and Carly Fiorina along with 11 other hopefuls, including Sen.
Reagan’s 1980 campaign was not against Jimmy Carter, even though Carter was his opponent.
But while Trump’s immigration policies were considerably to the left of Trump’s, his record on race and ethnicity is far from untarnished.
Matt Schlapp, chairman of the American Conservative Union, which hosts the annual CPAC conference that Reagan put on the map, said that Reagan deserves the plaudits and that his example is one that has important lessons for today’s would-be presidents. Lift Americans, unify, give hope, grow America, and restore it is to that great, shining city on a hill.
That’s the last great leader they remember. Predictably, and perhaps lazily, they focus largely on attacking the Obama administration (when not on each other). But his long shadow hangs more like a pall than a majestic rainbow over the 16 aspirants to the Reagan throne.
By the third hour of CNN’s GOP presidential debate, the candidates looked like long-distance runners fading in the final lap: A sweating Marco Rubio ran his hands through his hair, Chris Christie’s face turned red, a sagging Donald Trump grasped his lectern for support and, at times, seemed to crumple into his suit. Very few people realize that Reagan, a John F. Kennedy admirer, played a big role in raising money for the Kennedy Library. It’s hard to believe that Reagan would concur, but at least four Republican presidential contenders do-Cruz, Huckabee, Louisiana Gov. Bobby Jindal and Wisconsin Gov. Scott Walker. Candidates should talk not about what Obama did wrong, but what they will do to make the future better. In an nearly Zelig-like fashion, the plane can be found in proximity to any number of crucial historical moments: From shuttling former President carter to welcome home the 52 American hostages released from Iran, to carrying Ronald Reagan to and from his historic summits with Soviet leader Mikhail Gorbachev, during which he famously exclaimed “Mr. Gorbachev, tear down this wall!” To the contrary, he had a very healthy respect for a free press, viewed it as an essential element of a democracy and accepted tough questioning and reporting as coming with the territory.
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Many conservatives believe the two Bush presidencies that followed Reagan, as well as the subsequent GOP nominees, failed because they were not sufficiently faithful to the 40th president’s ideoogical road map. He is writing a book, Movie Nights with the Reagans, to be published by Simon & Schuster.
