As the Ronald Reagan centennial celebrations get under way this year and the Republican presidential nominating contest kicks off soon (the first GOP presidential debate is scheduled to take place at the Reagan Library, for good measure, on May 2), it seems as if all kinds of folks—Republicans and even some Democrats—will try to compare themselves with the fierce optimist from Tampico, Ill., who made California his home en route to becoming the greatest President of the last century.
Buyer beware.
Minnesota Governor Tim Pawlenty (R) isn't a RINO, but he ain't Ronald Reagan either.
Today, the political landscape is littered with too many individuals who can be referred to as RINOs (Reagan in name only), falsely laying a claim to Reagan’s legacy.
In just the last month, the political cognoscenti who are as clueless about Reagan now as they were when he was in power have compared former Minnesota Gov. Tim Pawlenty to Reagan solely because Pawlenty comes across as “nice.”
In an example of insiders believing their opinions of a candidate are representative of the populace at large, some compared Rep. Mike Pence (R.-Ind.) with Reagan, citing Pence’s purported ability to be a fusionist like Reagan and bringing together libertarians along with social and traditional conservatives.
Love her, or hate her, most would agree that 2008 Vice Presidential nominee Sarah Palin is no Ronald Reagan. Fiscal Conservative, yes. Traditional values, yes. Republican to the core. But in no way Gipper's clone.
Former Alaska Gov. and Vice Presidential candidate Sarah Palin has also been compared with Reagan. In fact, Palin, more than any other potential 2012 presidential candidate, has explicitly and implicitly invited and welcomed such comparisons through her words. But questions remain about whether she has the temperament, the intellectual curiosity, and the ability to win over independent voters the way Reagan did. In addition, one must wonder whether Palin has the security that Reagan had about himself and his ideas, along with the thick skin that allowed him to be self-deprecating.
The list goes on.
Of course, what may be even more egregious than the false comparisons to Reagan are those who call for conservatives to move beyond Reagan’s legacy at the very moment when more Republican dinners than ever are being named in honor of Reagan, exemplifying how strong his legacy is.
Former Florida Gov. Jeb Bush and Indiana Gov. Mitch Daniels both have been guilty of foolishly calling on people to move on from Reagan.
Like any transcendent leader, Reagan’s stature and legacy have only been strengthened since his passing.
Reagan was an iconic figure.
He ended the Cold War without firing a bullet. He understood how fragile freedom was. He restored America’s optimism and greatness that had been fading away into a sense of malaise under the feeble Jimmy Carter. Under Carter, the combination of unemployment and inflation was so bad that a new word had to be coined to describe it—stagflation.
Reagan was affable but wasn’t always nice. He told a heckler to “shut up.” In a New Hampshire primary debate in 1979 in Nashua, he memorably told the moderator, who tried to cut off his microphone, that “I am paying for this microphone, Mr. Green.” He told Mikhail Gorbachev to “tear down this wall.”
He was a conservative before he was a Republican.
He blunted the influence of the liberal, establishment Rockefeller Republicans and gave the party and the movement back to the grassroots.
He also brought independents to the Republican—and conservative—cause, largely because his words were inclusive.
He was more than an actor.
His time in Hollywood, especially leading its largest union, allowed him to feel comfortable in more liberal and cosmopolitan settings, and that helped him become a master persuader. As political scientist Richard Neustadt once wrote, the power of the presidency is the power to persuade.
He held firm to his convictions.
He fired the air traffic controllers. He believed Marxism would go in history’s “ash heap” at a time when the so-called “wise men” doubted him and even mocked him for being a know-nothing simpleton. They said his supply-side economics and cutting of the marginal tax rate were “voodoo economics,” though they lifted America out of its economic doldrums and brought economic prosperity at home, which, in turn, allowed for America to defeat the Soviets without firing a bullet.
He wasn’t afraid to selectively compromise, as he did in working with Democrats on social security.
He knew how to be an empathetic comforter, as he showed when the space shuttle Challenger horrifically exploded upon takeoff.
More than anything else, he was a leader who simply loved America and believed in its exceptionalism. Regular, blue-collar Americans saw that this was absolutely heartfelt and not an act.
When comparing any candidate to Reagan, these are some of the qualities that one should consider. It is obvious that very few are even worthy of being mentioned in the same breath as The Gipper.
In recent years and days though, the mainstream media has tried to speciously build up Barack Obama as the next Reagan. Obama, who once denounced Reagan, also seems receptive to the comparisons.
This is preposterous. Obama makes up for his lack of conviction with loads of ambition. And even though Obama was elected President in a country that is as exceptional as ours, he unfathomably runs away from American exceptionalism instead of fully embracing it. Most jarring, though, is that Obama is trying to tilt a center-right country to the left.
None of this is Reaganesque.
So let us be clear. It can be safely said that Barack Obama is the biggest RINO of them all.
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HUMAN EVENTS is the news source President Reagan called his "favorite newspaper" and we still hold high the Reaganesque principles of free enterprise, limited government and, above all, a staunch, unwavering defense of American freedom.
2012: A Time For Choosing
By Jedediah Bila
Ronald Reagan was extraordinary. Not just because his policies helped secure a strong, free and prosperous America. But because he called it like he saw it – honestly, boldly, and with a down-to-earth charm that left many elitists scrambling to try to dismantle him. Henry Kissinger referred to him as "a pretty decent guy" with "negligible" brains. Richard Nixon described him as "pretty shallow" and "of limited mental capacity." And there were others.
The truth is that Reagan was sharp as a tack. But he was sharp in a way that scared the heck out of a lot of people. His common-sense approach irked many ivory-tower academics. Plenty of GOP establishment big shots feared he would play by his own rules rather than theirs. Stuck-up elitists weren’t often amused by his jokes or the gift he had of looking into a camera and talking straight to the American people. And there was something so real about him - something relatable - that distinguished him from many politicians who were trying so hard to create an image of themselves they thought the public would like.
As we gear up for the 2012 presidential election, it's important to remember not only the beauty of Reagan's delivery and his take-me-as-I-am approach, but the significance of his message. I have included four quotes from Reagan's 1964 "A Time for Choosing" speech below, statements that merit revisiting at this pivotal point in our nation's history:
(1) "If we lose freedom here, there’s no place to escape to. This is the last stand on Earth. And this idea that government is beholden to the people, that it has no other source of power except the sovereign people, is still the newest and the most unique idea in all the long history of man's relation to man. This is the issue of this election. Whether we believe in our capacity for self-government or whether we abandon the American Revolution and confess that a little intellectual elite in a far-distant capital can plan our lives for us better than we can plan them ourselves."
(2) "But beyond that, 'the full power of centralized government' — this was the very thing the Founding Fathers sought to minimize. They knew that governments don't control things. A government can't control the economy without controlling people. And they know when a government sets out to do that, it must use force and coercion to achieve its purpose."
(3) "We have so many people who can't see a fat man standing beside a thin one without coming to the conclusion the fat man got that way by taking advantage of the thin one. So they are going to solve all the problems of human misery through government and government planning. Well, now, if government planning and welfare had the answer and they've had almost 30 years of it, shouldn't we expect government to read the score to us once in a while? Shouldn't they be telling us about the decline each year in the number of people needing help? . . . But the reverse is true. Each year the need grows greater, the program grows greater."
(4) "No government ever voluntarily reduces itself in size. So government programs, once launched, never disappear. Actually, a government bureau is the nearest thing to eternal life we'll ever see on this Earth. . . . These proliferating bureaus with their thousands of regulations have cost us many of our constitutional safeguards."
We're soon to arrive at yet another time for choosing, a choice between the continuation of Obama’s ballooning-government, coddle-our-enemies, spend-to-high-heaven agenda and that of what I hope will be a strong conservative opponent.
Times may have changed since 1964, but the profound distinction between the Left and the Right has not. Nor has the fact that big government cripples big dreams, that the world is safer when America is strong, and that if the Constitution were "living" and "breathing" as many on the Left would like it to be, then the foundation upon which we stand would be rooted in nothing.
Ronald Reagan spoke truths that have withstood the test of time, truths that continue to guide us toward sustaining everything that makes America exceptional. He challenged the status quo and reminded us that you can't be afraid to shake things up in order to make them right.
As the next presidential election approaches, don't lose sight of Reagan's wisdom or forget what some in the GOP establishment had to say about him. Remember his unconventional humor, the way he beat the media at its own game, and the fact that he often scared the heck out of both the Left and the business-as-usual D.C. crowd alike.
Reagan was one of a kind. He'll never be replaced, and the unique combination of gifts God gave him will always be a tough act to follow. But as the 2012 candidates step up to their podiums, be on the lookout for someone with plenty of common-sense wisdom, lots of bold honesty, some unconventional humor, and a desire to push all the nonsense aside, look straight into the camera and speak directly to the American people.
I, for one, will be listening.
"Government is like a baby. An alimentary canal with a loud voice at one end and no responsibility at the other."
Ronald Reagan
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Ms. Bila is an author and commentator living in New York City. For more information on Jedediah, please visit http://jedediahbila.com/.
