Why does the Republican party long so desperately for "Another Reagan?"

[Sparkly]

Because the best they can do is elect another out-of-touch actor (perhaps in the early stages of Alzheimer's) to max out the national credit card and spout happy talk to make people FEEL they're better off.

That's my best guess. What's yours? :shrug:

[C_U_L8R]

1. There is another Reagan - RON

[Sparkly]

2. Hey, I'd vote for him!!

I doubt many Republicans would, though.

[Deja Q]

3. People loved his warming personality.

The politics, thanks to the passage of time, haven't all been good.

Which is why they need somebody with charisma and who will put America first. Or at least not leave America out of things.

[BOSSHOG]

4. They want more non-white Priests, Nuns and Children to be murdered in Central America?

Because they like Ketchup? Because they can relate to a man who is out of his mind? Because they are extremely bad in judging humans!!!

[Sparkly]

6. I forgot the ketchup thing!!

That must be it -- they are the party of ketchup.

[BOSSHOG]

10. Yeah, they would have been easier on Clinton if he had used a condiment

[Sparkly]

15. lol

:rofl: :rofl: :rofl:

[silverweb]

5. It's definitely the "happy talk"...

I fell for it back in the day, despite the falsehoods behind it.

We desperately need another "happy talk" guy with charisma, but one who can back up the happy talk with TRUTH this time.

Who... oh, who can fill the bill?...


GObama!

[no_hypocrisy]

7. Timing is everything.

Nobody wanted Reagan in 1976 when he ran in the primaries against Gerald Ford.

In 1980, Jimmy Carter was a weathered man. Iran Hostage Crisis. Accusations of hiding in the White House instead of running the country. Giving control of the Panama Canal back to Panama.

Enter Ronald Reagan, full of sunshine, manly grit, anti-communist to the hilt, optimistic, promise of "getting things done right (for a change), etc. Good Housekeeping Seal of Approval. Jerry Falwell and the other RW preachers liked him (a lot). Avuncular. New, different and the country was ready for "different" in terms of purchasing a product. And he was a product.

I wonder if there had been a different president sitting in 1980, if Reagan still wouldn't have been elected.

[Sparkly]

17. Hm, maybe this is why that Iraq Wall idea came up....

"Mr. al-Maliki, tear down this wall!"

[Xipe Totec]

8. Because Regan wasn't the only one with Alzheimer's

most Repugs don't really remember how bad things were under Ronny Ray Gun.

[Orrex]

9. Because, in addition to all else...

He perfectly embodies their bonehead attitude of wishful thinking.

Nowhere has this idiotic sentiment been more clearly crystalized than in his address on March 4, 1987.

few months ago I told the American people I did not trade arms for hostages. My heart and my best intentions still tell me that's true, but the facts and the evidence tell me it is not.

That is an explict declaration of delusion, and the fact that the man was permitted to hold the office for one second beyond that statement indicates how eagerly the masses were willing to share in his self-deception.

Again and again we see Republicans clinging to an absurd and debunked belief simply because it's more comfortable than reality. Reagan was the ideal figurehead for that kind of foolishness, and Republicans long for another figurehead to worship.

[Nite Owl]

11. They have no other

model to look to, they have accomplished nothing. The only other R Pres that people admire is Eisenhower and he is not the right wing model of this GOP. Eike would probably be a dem today.

[OHdem10]

12. You can know with certainty that GOP is in Trouble--

They pull out Regan and start extolling his memory.
They think this rallies their base. For sometime
now even when Bush's #s dropped--they would run
Pctures and Stories of Regan. As with most things
the GOP tend to overuse things. At some time
Regan will no longer be of use. They will have
overdone it. Regan is considered by some Republicans
and Media as a most successful President. This is
why they use him.

IMO, a lot of us see his Presidency as the beginning
of the downward spiral of Republicans thus bringing
us the conditions in the country today.

It is a matter of where you stand I guess.

[Arkansas Granny]

13. Because he could act "presidential" and that's all they require.

It's kind of ironic that Republicans beat Democrats over the head with the "Hollywood liberals" theme, but they seem to be the ones that keep electing actors to office.

[Cameron27]

14. It's all they've got. He's their myth.

I don't know what happened to the country when he was Prez. Mass hypnosis?

[TwilightGardener]

16. Because they have nothing else--they are a hollow shell of a party,

with no core values anymore--fiscal responsibility has gone out the window, we are now the world's policeman, bogged down in two wars we are NOT winning, and the GOP hasn't brought forth any meaningful and beneficial changes to this country after 7 years of the WH and 10 years of Congress. They don't stand for workers, they don't stand for the disadvantaged, they don't seek to lift all of our boats on a rising tide--they are greedy, corrupt, and unpatriotic. Therefore they look to a guy who at least SEEMED to embody the qualities they WANT to be associated with now.

[iamahaingttta]

18. They are the Daddy Party

We are the Mommy Party.

They need a strong Daddy to feel secure.
With Daddy in charge, they can go to sleep and not worry about the problems of the world.
They are also incredibly misogynist, so that's why they hate Mommy so much.

Some day, we'll have a Human Party and maybe we'll be able to get past the stupid Mommy/Daddy politics that we are mired in...

[Recursion]

19. You know, Reagan was wrong about most things, but...

...when I saw him on TV I didn't think "Dear God what is this absolute idiot doing giving a backrub to the German chancellor?" I thought, "this guy is 100% wrong but damned if he isn't absolutely dominating that summit of world leaders."

Reagan was an empty suit but a damn good looking one. He was funny; he was optimistic. He believed to his core in the possibility of a zero-option nuclear deterrent, even if he could never see that the steps to get there would cause even more escalation -- he was wrong, but I do admire his beliefs on that.

I'm not going to wave the flag for Reagan but people did like him, especially outside of the country. America was cool back then. Greed, sex, and glamor sell and we had it in spades. Dissidents in communist countries smuggled his speeches into gulags -- Iranian and Egyptian dissidents are not doing the same thing now.

Bearing matters in a President. It really does. Reagan had it. Big Dog has it. Neither Bush had it. History will, I think, largely forgive a lot of Reagan's errors and sins because he did inspire hope and optimism in a lot of people, and thanks to Big Dog's clean up act we came out of his and his lapdog's three terms without too much permanent damage. And frankly sometimes that's all you can expect of a President -- and we aren't even getting that now.