Posted on 05/06/2009 12:13:04 PM PDT by Reagan 2.0
As you may know, Jeb Bush made some comments recently that suggested that Republicans needed to stop being nostalgic about the past (ie, Ronald Reagan) and move forward.
This teed off many conservatives, who believe that our party's failures are the direct result of ignoring everything that Reagan stood for. I couldn't agree more. Yet, Bush has had his defenders the past couple days, who say that he meant no such thing. Mike Devine is having none of this talk, and rips that idea to pieces. You can (and should) read it here.
Jeb says of the 2008 campaign:
"I felt like there was a lot of nostalgia for the good old days in the messaging and, you know, it's great, but it doesn't draw people towards your cause."
What campaign was he watching? I can't think of more than a half-dozen people who call themselves Republicans who had less in common philosophically with The Gipper than John McCain did. But you know who one of those six is? Jeb's grand-pappy, George H.W. Bush, Ronald Reagan's Vice President. You may remember him as the man who single-handedly ended the Reagan Revolution after the American people read his lips, compared his words to his actions, and found him lacking...
(Excerpt) Read more at examiner.com ...
I don’t know what Jeb was thinking, and he should go lay a wreath or something at Reagan’s grave. One of the worse mistakes he’s made, IMHO.
Simply from a strategic perspective, it makes more sense to move right.
Honestly, I’m done with the Bush family. Good folk, they’re served the nation, now time to move on.
I will be one of those who says that Jeb - who was a very good governor here for years - didn’t mean that we should reject Reagan, but simply meant that invoking Reagan was resonating with people. Reagan has been out of office for a long time and there is a whole generation or more of voters who weren’t even alive during his time in office.
And, of course, he gets little positive press to keep his policies alive. FDR is the hero of the press and people who weren’t alive during his time still recognize his principles (socialism, basically), but Reagan and Reagan policies do not receive favorable treatment.
So to some extent I think Jeb Bush is right. We can’t just say the magic word Reagan and expect people to want to vote for us. We have to pick another magic word that people will know immediately. I, btw, think the word should be “freedom,” which covers everything, resonates with everybody and was certainly a major part of Reagan’s policy.
I haven’t dug into the original speech, but wasn’t the context that we need to discuss a viable candidate instead of someone who’s out of office and not coming back?
I’m not a Jeb Bush fan and not looking for any more advice from Bushes.
I also know that the media since November 2nd had been selectively quoting everyone from Rush Limbaugh to Michael Steele to generate infighting in the party based on fraudulent misquotes and paraphrasing.
I don’t look to Jeb for advice. I also question why the MSM thought we should be listening.
My enemy is the media. They lie to me. Daily. They aren’t at all interested in strengthening the GOP.
Dismiss their reports out of hand.
Jeb can go pound sand.
Uhhh....that's Jeb's daddy.
Bush. Never again. Ever.
Jeb’s grand-pappy, George H.W. Bush, Ronald Reagan’s Vice President.
WTF? Why can they get facts correct. He is the son of GHW Bush. I just don’t get it.
No more Bush. Period.
Yes, he is. The young people aren't going to respond to the word "Reagan" as much as has been done.
They are looking for new words going forward i.e. conservative principles wrapped in new rhetoric.
Of course, Reagan should still be continued to be taught about, as should any American hero, but the youth is looking for a new standard bearer, as well they should.
If the world ever needed another Reagan Revolution, it is now. What we don’t need is another Bush. It’s time to move on.
That is an understatement!
All the Bushies are for “The New World Order.” I don’t think Reagan was ever for that.
They don't have to get it correct anymore. The libs rule the media, and anything goes, as long as it isn't promoting the Constitution, conservatism, morality, etc.
About the kindest way you can say it, is that George and Jeb are their father’s boys.
Our goals should not be one world government. It should not be to go along to get along. And actually having a set of principles in alignment with Conservatism shouldn’t be seen as an anchor around your neck, but rather a prerequisite, a minimum standard if you want to lead the Republican party.
If people want one world governance, want to go along to get along, and can’t back Conservative ideals, there’s already one party out there that would welcome them with open arms.
We don’t need two.
WHAAAT? What are you smoking? George "DUH-Pee-Yew" Bush couldn't scrape Reagan's shoes much less fill them! The Reagan legacy was to win with overwhelming force (i.e., raise the ante on the Ruskies until their brutal monolithic communism joke of an empire collapsed; blast the hell out of Khadaffi's terrorist Libya; get fellow Islamic warlords Ayatollah Rohollah Khomeini and Saddam Hussein to kill each other in an never-ending war by selling arms to both and use the profits to go snuff out Ortega communism in Latin America, etc.). Reagan was a giant, Bush was and is a pipsqueak!
FREEPER Post of the day!!! You are so correct in your synopsis of today’s freaking media...sorry for the nasty word.
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.