Obama Has the Best Attributes of Ronald Reagan...without the worst

[civildisoBDence]

This is cross-posted at http://newsprism.wordpress.com">NewsprismBlog

To understand what Ronald Reagan did psychologically for this country, and a bit about how he did it, all you have to do is http://www.citizenreviewonline.org/june2004/reagan_quotes.htm">read a few telling quotes by and about him.

Whenever you watched and listened to President Reagan, you had the feeling that this is not just a great country, but a good one. It was "Morning in America," and ours was "a shining city on a hill," the hope and envy of the world.

Republicans and conservatives have been looking high and low for "another Reagan," and in my opinion, they've found one. His name is Barack Obama.

The right risks losing the White House in a landslide if it keeps "misunderestimating" Senator Obama. He is, like Reagan, http://news.yahoo.com/s/realclearpolitics/20080226/cm_rcp/obama_reagan_and_the_power_of">a master of the rhetoric of hope and optimism. After seven years of the worst leadership in a century, the time is ripe for such a leader, just as it was after four years of Jimmy Carter's weakness and malaise, or before that, five years of Nixon's paranoia and criminality. When times are darkest, we are most drawn to the light.

In addition to that optimism, both Reagan and Obama match(ed) rhetoric with demeanor. The resemblance is hard to miss: a ready smile, a confident carriage, a sense of humor, a calm generosity towards the opposition, a face that beams with vitality and benevolence, an undeniable charisma.

But these are matters of style that only resonate through time if backed by substance. Reagan was a relentless Cold Warrior who was steeped in the principles of conservatism. Today, his style is secondary to the substance that helped him reshape the world. Along with Pope John Paul II and Margaret Thatcher, Reagan's staunch defiance of the Soviets opened a new era in the West.

It remains to be seen whether Obama's legacy will approach, much less match or exceed, Reagan's, and I'm not about to make any predictions of that magnitude. But I have, almost three weeks ago, predicted an Obama landslide in November.

When http://www.realclearpolitics.com/articles/2008/01/looking_for_mr_perfect.html">Obama invoked Ronald Reagan in January, it set off a firestorm among Reagan-hating liberals and Reagan-worshipping Republicans alike. The former saw it as traitorous, a sellout, a cheap campaign stunt; the latter, as an infringement on something almost sacred. Keen political observers saw a masterful politician appealing to moderates and Reagan Democrats (and to some old-fashioned conservatives, like http://www.dailytimes.com.pk/default.asp?page=2008%5C03%5C02%5Cstory_2-3-2008_pg3_5">Melvyn Krauss of the conservative Hoover Institute, as well.)

Obama doesn't appear to be a class-warrior like John Edwards. His health care plan, for example, is based in the free market; it's not a single-payer, universal system like Hillary Clinton's, as I pointed out to that prick Neal Boortz on his radio show this morning. (For two excellent critiques of Obama's plan, see http://www.ontheissues.org/2008/Barack_Obama_Health_Care.htm">OnTheIssues.org and http://www.healthcentral.com/healthcare08/candidate/obama.html">HealthCentral.com.)

Like it or not, Americans vote with their hearts, not their minds (this is especially true of liberals.) If intellect and experience trumped image and emotion, Richard Nixon would have defeated John Kennedy handily. If integrity and experience trumped image and emotion, Bob Dole would have done the same to Bill Clinton. On paper, Gerald Ford was a better candidate than Jimmy Carter, and John McCain is a better candidate than Obama.

In the American bloodstream, however, a candidate who convincingly promises better times and the renewal of hope and pride is hard to beat. Add a dash of charisma, and you have the potential for a landslide, just like we saw in 1980.

Obama has even more going for him than Reagan did. He offers, quite literally, a new face to show a world weary of the frat-boy-from-hell's unilateral, bellicose foreign policy. He offers a new face to show that America has, finally, been able to do what Martin Luther King dreamed about---to "rise up and live out the true meaning of its creed: 'We hold these truths to be self-evident: that all men are created equal.'"

Republicans have been looking for another Reagan, and they've found one---on the other side of the aisle.

Remember the old caution: be careful what you wish for...

http://www.newsprism.com">Newsprism

[niyad]

1. alzheimers ronny did NOTHING positive for this country--and that crap about him being

"the great communicator" is crap. I don't know why people believe that.

[civildisoBDence]

7. Can't even give him credit for his communication skills?

Come on, you can hate everything about the man, but still acknowledge his superficial talents.

Without communication, how could he have won in a landslide in '80 and get re-elected?

[niyad]

14. why should I pretend he had skills he didn't? he was a lousy actor, and a lousy speaker.

how did he win the elections? I have no idea, because he was a crappy governor, too.

please give me ONE example of his "communications skills" because I never saw them, EVER.

[damonm]

18. Then you were under a rock in the early 1980's.

[niyad]

20. no, I wasn't. I was there for iran-contra, for all the crap during his admin.

so, tell me ONE example of his "great communications skills"

your comment has about as much content as any of his speeches.

his blue crayon crap for his little star wars project was a perfect example of what an idiot he was.

[civildisoBDence]

27. I just gave you two, plus a link to dozens of others

I don't know of a single serious observer of politics who doesn't acknowledge Reagan's skills, no matter what they think of his politricks.

More examples:

Exceptional vocal variety with subtle inflections
A knack for finding just the right quote or saying
Unflappability ("There you go again," "I won't hold my opponent's age against him.")
Sincerity, feigned or not
Then there are those eyes--he communicated such calm and confidence just with his look.

Want more?

btw, one of the best communicators of the last century was Adolph Hitler...an evil sociopath, but what style.

[niyad]

29. let me put this very plainly. I don't give a rat's ass what is said about his

communications skills, because to me, he had none. nothing he EVER said evoked any positive reaction in me, because I knew exactly what he was doing.

iran-contra, the firing of the air traffic controllers, star wars, grenada, etc. THOSE are the things I paid attention to, not his hollywood-trained voice.

[civildisoBDence]

31. Plain enough.

Still dead wrong.

http://newsprism.wordpress.com">Newsprism

[niyad]

37. not dead wrong-- one of the few people who didn't buy his crap, thank you very much.

sorry, but every time he opened his mouth, I was put in mind of a snake-oil salesman.

so, all of you who are creaming your jeans defending this man, get a serious clue, and explain to me how you defend iran-contra, grenada, star wars, his war on women, the fired air traffic controllers, etc.

[civildisoBDence]

21. Reagan's address the night of the Challenger disaster...poignant, healing

Or his address in France on the anniversary of D-Day.

The list is long...take a peek here for what the experts (most of them liberals) have to say:

http://www.americanrhetoric.com

[Kurt_and_Hunter]

32. I know you're being serious, but the Challenger address was

I know you're being serious, but the Challenger address was a national embarrassment.

Some background:

Back when there were only four or five TV stations they would sign-off late at night with the national anthem. A few stations preceded the national anthem with a hilarious, psychotronic thing of fighter jet footage while a narrator intoned the single worst piece of poetry ever committed to paper, when ended with "I slipped the surly bonds of Earth, and touched the face of God."

Me and my friends used to die over how overwritten and insincere that poem was. It was a running gag.

Then on a terrible day when a shuttle blew up, Reagan came on TV and READ THAT GOD DAMNED POEM.

I almost choked laughing. "Oh my God... He did the 'surly bonds of Earth poem!!! Is there no limit to this burlesque?'"

I will grant that he made me laugh in the face of tragedy, but it was not a proud moment for America.

[civildisoBDence]

33. 137 leading experts in rhetoric were asked to list the 100 best speeches in US history

and the Challenger speech ranks 8th...and the strong majority of those asked are university liberals.

I show that speech in my own classes, and I've never had a single negative comment about it.

But what do we know?

http://www.news.wisc.edu/misc/speeches/">Here's the list from AmericanRhetoric.com

[Seabiscuit]

34. "healing"???

The last person I'd turn to for "healing" would have been Ronald Reagan. BLEAAAAGGGHHHHH!

[civildisoBDence]

35. Listen to it and tell me he didn't help the nation start to heal

It was especially poignant when he addressed the schoolchildren who watched the disaster live, and the families and colleagues of those 7 who were lost.

http://americanrhetoric.com/speeches/ronaldreaganchallenger.htm">Here's the speech itself

http://www.news.wisc.edu/misc/speeches/">Here's what the (mostly liberal) experts think about the speech

[Seabiscuit]

36. Why on earth would any DU'er to scraping around trying to find something positive

to say about that scumbag RR???

[civildisoBDence]

38. Why would you ignore the post

and try to deny Reagan's communication skills?

Read the post...my point is to praise Obama.

I see you're out of ammo--why else would you change the subject to me???

[Seabiscuit]

54. I suspected you were attempting to praise Obama.

And your rude, impertinent bullshit attitude gave you away as a hard core Obamanoid.

Ah, yes, the nauseating old Repuke meme: "Reagan: The Great Communicator". :puke: He was a lousy fourth-rate actor and an even lousier governor, president and human being.

Obama turned me off forever with his false praise of things Ronnie - all that vague crap about "trajectories", etc. I've never trusted him since. And he continues to turn me off.

I don't need to watch any clips of Ronnie Rayguns - I saw enough of him when he was alive to turn my stomach so much that I couldn't watch him any more without wanting to throw a brick at the TV screen or burn any newspaper with a picture of him on the front page. He was a walking disaster who paved the way for the current complete disaster known as George W. Bush who I will not look at any more either.

And don't pull the old knee-jerk "Hillbot" crap on me. This isn't about her.

I was and remain an Edwardian.

[autorank]

56. This must be the worst post ever.

[katmondoo]

2. I hated Ronald Reagan

He started on women as soon as he became president, he opened the pandora box to the evangelicals, hated the poor and opened the way for GWB to become the closest fascist President America has seen in its history. You can shove him and his policies.

[civildisoBDence]

9. I hated him back then myself

but have come to see his good qualities.

Still hate DUHbya, the Frat Boy From Hell...

[leftofcool]

3. Keeeeeeeerist!

Now old Ronnie is a saint with some wonderful qualities and Obama is like him. What next, the dool qualities of Ollie North?

[leftofcool]

5. dool=good

chemo moment

[civildisoBDence]

8. I hope you're okay

A "chemo moment" can't be good.

[leftofcool]

11. Thank you

I am fine. But once in a while, I get sick just about the time I hit the send button and don't check my words/spelling before I do it.

Left of Cool

[lumberjack_jeff]

4. Reagans "attributes" were all negative.

He made people comfortable with their predjudices. He discouraged people from thinking when the comfortable illusion is close at hand. Obama's campaign claims that "universal" health care is a good thing... unless it's universal, in which case it's bad.

If there are better examples of the politics of rhetoric in direct contradiction of prudent policy, I'm not sure I can think of one.

He's Saint Ronny without all that boring policy stuff.

[shayes51]

6. exactly

[Kurt_and_Hunter]

10. Whenever you watched and listened to President Reagan, you had the feeling that you were in HELL

"Whenever you watched and listened to President Reagan, you had the feeling that this is not just a great country, but a good one."

Actually, Whenever I watched and listened to President Reagan, I had the feeling that this is not just a dumb country, but an utterly moronic one.

But that's just me.

[civildisoBDence]

12. Well, maybe purgatory, but Hell? n/t

[theHandpuppet]

13. It's not just you.

Trust me.

But DU is sounding more and more like Free Republic every day.

[civildisoBDence]

16. I'm a raging moderate, banned for life from Free Republic for, well, you can guess

Is there room for moderates on DU? I remember a time when DU was more welcoming and open-minded...and I know of many who've left the site because it had become so hateful and intolerant of ANYTHING right of the fringe.

When in doubt (or out of arguments,) just cry

Freeper! FREEEEEEEEE-per!

[LostinVA]

17. "ANYTHING right of the fringe" -- OMFG -- what site are you talking about?

Not DU, that's for sure.

DU a Leftist site -- giggles.

[bunnies]

25. heh.

You must have missed the thread where Obama supporters were called "extremists". This board is hardly left fringe. Not even close.

[bellasgrams]

19. Either the OP is a repb or they are too young to have lived in

Ronnie's time. I hated it. I was one of the lucky ones who had a good union job, but I'll never forget the unending unemployment lines. I used to say he was senile because of the way he talked and acted. Didn't know much about Alzheimer's at that time.'

Too many references to Reagan by BO and his group. On top of that he wants more repbs in his admin. Why on God's green earth would anyone vote for that guy.

[laconicsax]

15. Sorry, you lose.

Reagan was a relentless Cold Warrior who was steeped in the principles of conservatism. Today, his style is secondary to the substance that helped him reshape the world. Along with Pope John Paul II and Margaret Thatcher, Reagan's staunch defiance of the Soviets opened a new era in the West.

:rofl:

I hear Reagan literally willed the Soviet Union into non-existence. Apparently, you heard that too.

Like it or not, Americans vote with their hearts, not their minds (this is especially true of liberals.)

I like your statement that '"liberals" don't think.' It adds a certain je ne sais quoi normally only found in the works of Ann Coulter, Sean Hannity, Bill O'Reilly, the Michaels Savage and Medved, and other esteemed political commentators.

Obama doesn't appear to be a class-warrior like John Edwards. His health care plan, for example, is based in the free market; it's not a single-payer, universal system like Hillary Clinton's, as I pointed out to that prick Neal Boortz on his radio show this morning. (For two excellent critiques of Obama's plan, see OnTheIssues.org and HealthCentral.com.)

Clinton's plan isn't single-payer, nor is it a universal system. It's forced private insurance and an expansion of government programs to cover some of those who can't afford it. Either you don't understand what is meant by "sinle-payer, universal system," or you simply don't care. I'm guessing it's a bit of column A and a bit of column B.

:hi:

[bellasgrams]

22. Another rebp wandered in. ALERT

[civildisoBDence]

24. Wandered in and posted 888 times

Ya think?

[civildisoBDence]

26. BE HONEST--how many of you were glad to hear Reagan had Alzheimer's?

I was standing next to a grad school colleague when we both read the headline...she literally squealed, she was so happy.

Just take a look at some of the responses here to Bill Buckley's death to see how mean-spirited some can be.

[niyad]

28. I called my best friend and asked, "are you and I the only two people who knew he had

alzheimer's when he was governor?" it didn 't come as any surprise, and I wasn't glad--it made me sad that the truth had been hidden for so long.

[civildisoBDence]

30. So you think he had it in the 70s?

It doesn't exactly lay dormant...

You were sad about the truth being hidden, but were you sad for the man or his family?

I'm trying to get a feel for the, well, lack of feelings many have for anything conservative...as if a person's ideology gives you license to hate.

http://newsprism.wordpress.com">Newsprism

[niyad]

42. why should I have felt sad for them? I never saw any compassion in them.

gee, you are trying to get a feel for the "lack of feeling"? oh my, of COURSE we are all haters here, unlike those fine, upstanding, compassionate, caring people on the right, yes?

whatever you are smoking, my dear, you should really share.

[civildisoBDence]

23. At least you read the post and responded to its content...

I was born in '61, btw.

And whenever we take part in the discourse of democracy, everybody wins...

[Forkboy]

39. I'll take Reagan seriously as soon as I'm done pissing on his grave.

[civildisoBDence]

44. Now THAT's classy

Why don't you beat up Nancy while you're at it?

http://newsprism.wordpress.com">NewsprismBlog

[Forkboy]

48. Is she available?

:eyes:

I have no real issues with Nancy, per se. But Reagan was a world class shitheel. Where was his class for the poor? Where was his class for AIDS victims (remember them?)

Save the self righteous bullshit for someone gullible enough to buy it. Reagan was a disaster for the country and the world, and he shit all over the least among us. If that's your idea of "class" than you're insane.

[civildisoBDence]

50. Okay, now THATs funny. And I just might be insane...but that doesn't mean I'm wrong

[Zorra]

Don't believe everything the media injects into your mind.

The Emperor had no clothes on.

Reagan was a doddering old fascist fool, and the media convinced the masses he was a swell guy while he destroyed their country right before their eyes and then later convinced them to like it.

[Zorra]

40. Don't believe everything the media injects into your mind.

The Emperor had no clothes on.

Reagan was a doddering old fascist fool, and the media convinced the masses he was a swell guy while he destroyed their country right before their eyes and then later convinced them to like it.

[Zorra]

41. Don't believe everything the media injects into your mind.

The Emperor had no clothes on.

Reagan was a doddering old fascist fool, and the media convinced the masses he was a swell guy while he destroyed their country right before their eyes and then later convinced them to like it.

[civildisoBDence]

46. We get it, we get it, we get it.

You throw around "fascist" about as loosely as Jonah Goldberg.

http://newsprism.wordpress.com/2008/02/18/i-am-rubber-youre-a-fascist/">I am rubber, you're a fascist

[civildisoBDence]

43. For the record, I'm on the record criticizing the Reagan administration

Right cheer:

http://www.prestoncoleman.com/kingdom.htm">Kingdoms of Paper and Glass

And the Bush misadministrations here:

http://www.prestoncoleman.com/oinkyboinky.htm">The Oinky Boinky Machine

and here:

http://newsprism.wordpress.com/2008/03/03/quotes-that-will-live-in-infamy/">Quotes That Will Live in Infamy
http://newsprism.wordpress.com/2008/02/24/38/">Lessons Learned from Presidents Past
http://newsprism.wordpress.com/2008/02/23/is-warrantless-wiretapping-uh-warranted/">Is Warrantless Wiretapping Warranted?
http://newsprism.wordpress.com/2008/02/15/bill-of-rights-re-write/">Bill of Rights Re-Write

and all over here:

http://newsprism.wordpress.com/news-satire/">Timeless News (Satire...)

There was a time when I never had to establish credentials here...and yes, *gasp* I do think Reagan did some good for this country and the world (unless you're a communist), and he surely was a Great Communicator.

[Hoof Hearted]

45. EEEEeeeeewwwwwww.

[civildisoBDence]

47. I'm guessing you're a horse lover, hoofhearted?

just like Reagan?

(sorry, couldn't help myself)

[Larkspur]

49. My mother, and FDR Dem and WW II veteran, said Reagan was a B-rated actor

and at best a B-rated President. Course that's better than the F-rated Prez we have now.

[civildisoBDence]

51. He was a sorry actor, for sure. The monkey outacted him.

And I agree that the fratboy from hell gets an F, and Reagan, a B+.

Nice Picasso, btw...isn't that Guernica (sp?)?

http://newsprism.wordpress.com">NewsprismBlog

[DemGa]

52. Ronald Reagan disgusts me -----NT

[civildisoBDence]

53. And we disgust you, too, I'm guessing

We discussed you and decided that you're disgusting.

[autorank]

55. Go screw yourself. Ronald Reagan had no good attributes.

Stop it with this nonsense. It just pisses people off.

[Milo_Bloom]

57. What Reagan did right... and Obama seems to be promising...

Is making sure to get the people on his side to help him get what he wants.

When Reagan was defied, he would seek out the American people for help and appeal to them and (with lies) convince them that what he wanted was in their best interest and get them to want it to... which often left congress with little choice but to give in.


Obama has been laying the groundwork for that... He talks in terms of US and WE and reminds people their work is yet to come.

If he can follow that pattern of Reagan's and use the support of the American people truly to his advantage, he will be an incredibly effective leader.