http://blog.aflcio.org/2007/05/04/gop-candidates-remember-reagan-forget-working-families/GOP Candidates Remember Reagan, Forget Working Families
by Payson Schwin, May 4, 2007
Last night, 10 Republican presidential candidates gathered for their first debate at the Ronald W. Reagan Presidential Library in California.
Beneath a full-size replica of Air Force One, the candidates tried their best to claim they were the rightful heirs of the Reagan legacy. (A legacy, let’s not forget, that was strongly anti-union, and included the firing of striking air traffic controllers during his first year in office.)
As Politico.com reported:
From the moment the debate began, the candidates competed to see who could most laud the former president.
Meanwhile, Crooks and Liars notes the candidates “specifically referenced the 40th president 20 times.”
Yet the candidates rarely mentioned issues important to working families—health care, good jobs, trade policy, education and retirement security. Also not talked about much was President Bush, “who was seldom mentioned by name and whose policies were, in general, treated as an albatross to the 2008 field,” according to Politico.com.
The majority of the debate focused on foreign policy issues—such as Iraq, Iran and terrorism—but there were moments when other topics arose.
Former New York City Mayor Rudy Giuliani blasted what he called “socialized medicine,” and said while our health care system “needs to be fixed,” it is still the “greatest health care system in the world.” (Note to Giuliani: America’s health care system is broken.)
FULL story at link.