If you were a Ronald Reagan Democrat--- then you really weren't a Democrat.

[trumad]

[JHB]

1. On the other hand, they weren't really Republicans either n/t

[Zywiec]

2. Since Reagan won 49 out of 50 states

I wonder who were all the people who voted for him?

[trumad]

3. Democrats who go by name only.

[Zywiec]

5. JHB says they weren't republicans either.

I guess they are neither Dems nor repubs, but vote what's popular at the time.

[KansDem]

41. "voters in awe of celebrities"

You know, the ones who'll vote for the guy who entertained them at one time. Reagan fit that mold, and now the GOP hopes Fred Thompson will step in to win them the White House with his celebrity status.

The GOP thought they could do that with George W. Bush and it worked...for a while. With CorpMedia whoring for him 24/7, they were successful in portraying him as an "aw shucks, I'm here to do the people's job" but didn't figure in the "spittle factor:" that George W. was "no Reagan." The "he's a regular guy" and "he's someone you'd want to have a beer with" P.R. campaign wore thin after Iraq War lies, Katrina incompetence, and a bogus "war on terror" that is simply masking a "smash and grab" foreign policy.

Say what you will about Americans, but we sure do value our entertainers!

[Greyhound]

53. Excellent point!

I've always wondered about the undeniable fact, shown in study after study, that a majority of voters will cast their ballot for the candidate or issue they've heard the most; or most recently, about, even when the issue/candidate is contrary to their opinion or belief.

The power of the media is truly awesome, made more so by people's denial of its influence.

[mohinoaklawnillinois]

6. Ain't that the truth, trumad. n/t

[liberal N proud]

7. People who were fooled by the Hollywood actor

[papau]

11. Acting ability and an optimistic face and smile fool a lot of good folks who take a person

at their word that the want to do good, and not just tax cuts for the rich and corporate with corporate welfare via unneeded defense/security contracts and excessively expensive compared to government operations cost "privatization" contracts.

[LiberalFighter]

23. Harding, Roosevelt, Johnson and Nixon had higher percentage of voters

than Reagan but fewer electoral votes.

[gatorboy]

37. And yet Mondale got 40% of the popular vote.

Isn't the electoral vote a wonderful thing.?

[WinkyDink]

45. Morans? People who think, like he did, that movies are real?

People who wanted Carter to bring home the Iranian embassy hostages dead or alive, when Carter preferred alive?

[tjwash]

63. There were a lot of coke-heads and speed freaks voting back then.

Judging by 2 the Bush terms they are still out there pulling the levers...

[jmowreader]

69. Reagan only got 59 percent of the popular vote

They joke about "Mondale voters" being a scarcity, but 31 percent of the electorate voted for a candidate other than Reagan--and most of them went for Mondale.

Reagan was never as popular as the Cult of Ronnie would have you believe.

[Drifter]

4. I'm a Reagon Democrat ...

If it wasn't for Reagan, I wouldn't be a Democrat.

Cheers
Drifter

[Turbineguy]

34. Same Here!

[mudesi]

40. lol

:rofl:

[minkyboodle]

78. lol

Love it great response! :)

[EstimatedProphet]

8. No, what you were was a sucker.

The Reagan Democrats fell for a con job.

[EFerrari]

10. You bet they did. And Reagan made Junior possible.

He's still screwing us over.

[stimbox]

48. Und Arnold.

Kalifonians fell for the actor/spokesperson trick again.
Thankfully he can't run for POTUS, yet.

[EFerrari]

68. Agree, neighbor. Ahnold is another Front Man in Waiting.

Argh!

[liberaldemocrat7]

94. We do not need another immigrant Austrian running a country.

Hitler, an immigrant Austrian took over Germany. We do not need another immigrant Austrian taking over here.

[KittyWampus]

35. No, they fell for a marketing campaign that outclassed the Democrats by orders of magnitude.

A LOT of DU'ers need to get over themselves and their arrogant, smug attitude and admit just how badly the Democratic party has been at packaging its message.

And responding to the GOP assualt.

That includes not just the Dem establishment but activists as well.

A lot of DU'eres also need to look in a mirror and realise just how easily they play into the 'elitist' stereotype the GOP threw at them. This whole thread helps exemplify this behavior.

God forbid you actually study the actual reasons WHY people voted for Reagan.

So much easier to just insult those people.

Who needs their future votes anyway, right?

[EstimatedProphet]

55. No argument

We tend to think that people are supposed to vote for us, because they should simply know to do so. We definately undersell our message. At the same time, I still say that peple fell for a con job with Reagan, because there was plenty of analysis going on at the time that said he was full of shit. People bought it anyway.

[Hestia]

62. Boy ain't that the truth - my ex and I watched the debates and I told

my ex at that time that Reagan is the anti-christ and the country will really be fubared. He bought Reagan hook, line and sinker while I sat there scared to death by him. The point of the Democrat message is lame most of the time - why is it that we seem to attract wimps? Looking at what happened at that time - inflation at 12%, attack of the swamp bunny, Iran, Iran, Iran and the failed mission to rescue the kidnapped victims in Iran. Of course, if Pappy Bush wasn't running the CIA, most of this stuff would never have happened. The MSM made the voters pay for not voting in 'one of the boys' and pretty much made our lives hell at that time. But, my ex and I made a collective $10 per hour, had a house, 2 paid for cars, took vacations all the time, and had no problems paying our bills. We actually had a savings account.

[Crunchy Frog]

105. Walter Mondale wasn't exactly an inspiring choice.

Not that I didn't vote for him, but I can see why he would have failed to appeal to a high enough degree where he could have at leat mounted a credible electoral challenge.

Agreed that it's much easier to just lambaste people who voted for Reagan, rather than trying to understand why, and what could be done more effectively in future elections.

[Greyhound]

54. I think that was a joke. n/t

[qdemn7]

9. Since you're bringing up history

Reagan won because Carter was a weak-willed, indecisive, President, and yes I'm talking about the hostages held in Iran, and his actions toward the USSR during their invasion of Afghanistan.

(oooh an Olympic Boycott). :puke:

I seriously doubt that FDR, Truman, JFK or LBJ would have tolerated Americans being held hostage for 444 days.

[EFerrari]

13. Carter funded rebels in Afghanistan against the Soviets. n/t

[EstimatedProphet]

15. Oh bullshit!

Carter was not weak-willed. He did have a plan to get the hostages out militarily, which failed not because he was incompetent, but because the military was! Reagan only had the hostages released because he traded arms for them under the table! It was NOT because of that "they looked him in the eye and got scared" crap that Reagan fetishists like to throw around. Reagan made a deal with Iran to make sure that the hostages wouldn't be freed until AFTER THE ELECTION! Iran was ready to let them go in July of 1980, and Reagan stabbed the US in the back via Casper Weinberger's negotiations to trade arms for them, only after the election took place!

[Name removed]

18. Deleted message

Message removed by moderator. Click here to review the message board rules.

[EstimatedProphet]

20. As I recall, Carter DID take responsibility

Nevertheless, the mission failed not because Carter was a loser, but because of poor communicaton between the various teams involved, not because of a lack of commitment or resolve. Look it up.

[YOY]

29. Goodbye

n/t

[MyNameGoesHere]

36. yeah they always lauched desert ops from submarines. Doofus. n/t

[jody]

16. Your statement is so full of ignorance it does not justify a reply other than

:puke: on it.

[trumad]

17. And how many Marines died in Beirut?

[EstimatedProphet]

21. Doesn't matter. It didn't happen under Carter.

Oy.

[WinkyDink]

58. Those hostages, every one, was brought home alive---except LATER

than they should have been, thanks to Reagan, Inc.'s treasonous dealings.
And BTW, Oliver North gave the Carter CIA deliberately wrong weather info for the attempted mikitary rescue mission.
"Oliver North led a secret detachment to eastern Turkey. He was in the mother ship on the Turkish border awaiting the cue from Secord to fly into Teheran and rescue the hostages. <2> <25> After the first aborted rescue mission, he worked with Secord on a second rescue plan.

According to the October Surprise theory, Secord, North and Hakim did not intend Desert One to carry through. The miserable failure of Carter's Desert One rescue attempt may have been deliberate."

http://209.85.165.104/search?q=cache:5a3vPrBK8fcJ:www.donhopkins.com/drupal/node/104+oliver+north+role+desert+one&hl=en&ct=clnk&cd=1&gl=us

[happyslug]

61. And what would have FDR, Truman, JFK or LBJ do about it???

The problem with the Hostage situation is military options were limited. We knew that the Central Government of Iran had NO CONTROL OVER THE SITUATION and until that was resolved no amount of bombing would have solved the problem (unless you advocated bombing the Hostages, thus killing them thus ending the problem). A blockade was NOT an option for Iran was NOT importing that much anyway at that time (and we wanted Iranian Oil).

If you want to compare what JFK and LBJ would have done, look at Cuba, NEITHER seriously tried to introduce US troops into Cuba (the only way to really remove Castro). Both (especially JFK) tried various gimmicks to remove Castro, but no actual invasion for both feared the affect of such an invasion. The same with Carter and the Hostage Situation, his military options were limited. In fact when he tried the best military option he had, the recuse attempt, it forced the Iranians to cut back the exposure of the hostages to Televising (In fact at that time the US thought the Iranians had dispersed the Hostages throughout Iran, after they were released the US found out that had NOT occurred, but the hostages were kept in the Embassy but out of sight).

The US had Carriers in the Gulf, but no real land bases till the Iraqi Invasion of Kuwait in 1991. Even then it took the US three months to deploy its forces to the Middle East. Furthermore the Soviet Union was still in good military shape in 1979 unlike 1991 when the Soviet Union still existed, but had cut back Military spending drastically. Thus in 1979 if the US had pulled the Army out of Germany, the Soviet Union only had to mobilize its armies in Europe to force that Army back. In 1991, Gorbachev was still in control of the USSR, he promised to Bush that his Armies would NOT mobilize during operation Desert Storm, thus freeing the US Army, Air Force and Navy to operate in the Persian Gulf. Under Carter such movement of Army, Air Force and Naval units was NOT possible, do to the existence of the Soviet Red Army.

The chief problem with the US and Iran in 1979 was that from 1954-1979 the US only relied on the Shah to control Iran. The US had NO CONTACT WITH ANYBODY ELSE WHO COULD RULE IRAN IF THE SHAH WOULD FALL. Thus, unlike 1954 when the US had extensive contract within the Iranian Society to overthrow the then Prime Minster of Iran, in 1979 the US had no one. Thus the option of overthrowing Khomeini was not possible.

Please STOP REPEATING THE REPUBLICAN TALKING POINTS IN REGARD TO CARTER. If Reagan had been President in 1979, the Hostages crisis would Still have taken place. An attempt would have been made to rescue the Hostages but would have failed (The operation was doomed from the beginning when the recuse team told the Navy to put Hanger Queens into the operations, Hanger Queens are generally hanger Queens for some good reason and thus NOT to be depended on in a Crisis). What ended the Hostage situation was the Iraq-Iran war. Iran needed supplies and spare parts for its military, and those supplied and spare had to come from the US. This forced the Khomeini to force the Hostage takers to give up the hostages in exchange for badly needed supplies and Spare Parts. Furthermore most of the affect of the Hostages criss was dissipated do to the Rescue Attempt.

My point here is when it came to the Hostage Situation, Carter had few if any options. Had FDR, Truman, JFK or LBJ faced the same problem with the same military limitations the results would have been the same. There was not much the US could do about the Situation, and what the US could do Carter did. The same with Afghanistan, with not bases in Iran or Pakistan the US was limited what it could do. The Boycott of the Olympics HURT the Soviet Union more than anything else, for the Olympics was to be the crowning glory of the Old Soviet Union, and ended up being a farce since the US and the West did not show up. This so hurt the Soviet Union that they in turn boycotted the 1984 Olympics (Which result increase the Medals won by Americans in 1984). Could Reagan have done Better? No, the military options were to limited to do more than Carter did.

[Hippo_Tron]

93. The military option was to bomb Tehran

Under the assumption that the captors would release the hostages in order to stop the United States from enacting further devastation on their country. And if they didn't release the hostages, Americans could at least feel good that they were getting revenge on Iran for taking them. This of course is based on the moral relativism that 400 American lives are worth more than thousands of Iranian lives and President Carter was actually a decent human being so he didn't subscribe to that moral relativism.

In retrospect, though, I'd tell him to go ahead and use any force necessary to win re-election. The thousands of Iranian lives lost are far less than the damage that has been done since 1981 because Reagan came to power. If Reagan had lost in 1980, the right wing of the GOP would've been politically destroyed and Reagan would've been called a nut case. The moderate Gerald Ford/Nelson Rockefeller wing would have continued to control the party and none of us would know who George W Bush is.

Oh and considering the foreign policy problems we've faced in the last decade with regard to Afghanistan, I don't see why we shouldn't have let the Soviets just take it.

[Recursion]

99. Carter was also an ineffective micro-manager

Remember the SNL sketches making fun of him? (Dan Akroyd did a great Carter.) He'd be on a talk show and a postal employee would call in complaining about the CRM114 Mail Sorting Device. "Carter" would say he was just discussing the operations cycle of the CRM114 with the Postmaster General: when the actuator hangs you have to lift the arm marked 7A until the first three envelopes clear the hopper. That was the kind of stuff he did, and he would get so lost in the weeds of minutiae that he never assembled an effective narrative for the administration, which is really a President's most important personal responsibility. He's incredibly brilliant and knew more about most of his employees' jobs than they did and that was the problem because it's not the President's job to get involved in the operational details of administration.

I would not have voted for Reagan over Carter but I'm pretty disappointed with Carter's performance in office.

[Recursion]

100. It was said upthread but bears repeating

Reagan won and got a large portion of the country behind him; this is a fact. You can complain all you want about how people who supported him were duped or stupid or thoughtless or whatever, but the fact remains that they chose to support him and not Carter or Mondale.

We don't automatically deserve votes from people whose interests we think we are fighting for.

If we want them to vote for us, we have to:
A) fight for what they consider their interests to be
B) effectively communicate what we believe in and what we are doing

The Democratic party didn't do either of those on the Presidential stage from, oh, 1968 to 1992 or so. And blaming the people who didn't choose us for the fact that we didn't give them an acceptable choice is just perverse.

[Zywiec]

12. Does anyone remember Mondale?

Reagan's landslide in 1984 was not against Carter, but Mondale.

[deutsey]

22. Oh, I remember...he was the first presidential candidate I voted for

I knew he was going to lose but I wanted to be able to say I voted against Reagan.

It sucks that my first time voting had to be defined by rationale, but I still proudly say I voted against Reagan for what it's worth.

[youthere]

49. That was my first vote. Proudly cast for Mondale.

[Crunchy Frog]

106. My first election too.

I had realllly wanted Gary Hart to get the nomination. Reagan might still have won, but I don't think it would have been the complete rout that we had with Mondale.

[jody]

14. Interesting point, what is a real Democrat? Does it require supporting every plank in the Platform?

[trumad]

19. No---but it does require opening a book, magazine, or whatever

to understand what the fuck you are voting for. Ya think?

[jody]

25. Thanks but, what is a a REAL Democrat? n/t

[Forkboy]

71. People who don't rationalize a vote for an utter shithead is a definition I can accept.

[jody]

74. I'll never vote for you. n/t

[Beelzebud]

43. A real Democrat votes for Democrats, not failed actors like Reagan.

Or Fred Thompson.

[jody]

66. Do you mean a REAL Democrat always votes for Democratic candidates?

[H2O Man]

24. True.

It marked a point where the neoconservative movement was separating from the democratic party, and where another related segment of voters shifted to the republican machine.

[bryant69]

26. Hmmmm I'm not sure I get the point to this

At any rate, it doesn't seem like we can afford to be exclusionary just now.

Bryant
Check it out --> http://politicalcomment.blogspot.com

[windbreeze]

108. if you are a W.C.Democrat...you'd get it..it's a drive by shooting...

and there have been quite a few of these threads lately...several in the last couple days even...why do I find myself being amazed as it continues...???
wb

[Ganja Ninja]

27. Reagan Democrats were nothing more than Dixiecrats from ...

states outside of the south. I know that's a pretty harsh judgment but deep down it's true.

[Odin2005]

28. So Jim Webb isn't a Democrat?

:crazy:

[trumad]

30. Oh I'm not saying you can't change...

I'm just saying that if you called yourself a Democrat in 1980 and voted for RayGun---then you were full of shit.

[Beelzebud]

44. He wasn't. In the 80's he called himself a Republican....

[Perky]

31. But we want you back regardless!!!!

[devilgrrl]

32. Reagan Democrats = I belong to a union but I hate queers, blacks & jews

Seriously, that's the kind of people I think of when I hear that term.

[youthere]

51. Ha! My dad was a hardcore Reagan Dem...

and you nailed him...except he didn't belong to a union.

[Beelzebud]

56. Reagan was the worst president ever for unions. Rethink your BS.

You are most likely correct about the "hate queers, blacks, and jews" thing, but do you even know any middle class union workers? We HATED Reagan because he tried to dismantle the labor movement.

[JVS]

82. There was no love for RR in the Steel City

[Greyhound]

57. DIng, ding, ding, we have a winner.Raygun gave them permission,

after ~ a decade of being ostracized, to let their bigotry flow again. from the 60's until Raygun, it was socially unacceptable to spew derision on all the various classes of "others", from women to hippies to racial minorities, they were not free to voice their ignorance in "decent society", at least not without consequence.

That and the Democratic Party's corrupt back room deals and, what at the time was considered at the time, run away pork barrel politics, ushered in the Raygun era. Remember Senator Proxmire's "Golden Fleece" awards?

[JVS]

81. I don't buy it. Check out these maps, look at the largely blue collar region around pittsburgh

Red=Democratic, Blue=Repub

1976


1980


1984


1988



Now take a look at 2000

People from areas that were solidly republican in 2000, thanks largely to economic diaspora, fucking hated Reagan.

[Thirtieschild]

33. During the Clinton years, at least in GA, almost two out of three cars sported signs reading

DON'T BLAME ME
I VOTED BUSH

I still cherish the one (only saw one) that said
DON'T BLAME ME
I VOTED CARTER

S/he got it right.

[SheWhoMustBeObeyed]

38. Yes, this is true.

If your commitment to Democratic values ran so shallow that you were willing to cast them aside for an America where the working class became poor, the poor became homeless and the homeless were mocked and reviled, you were, at best, easily duped, and at worst you were cold and heartless.

[trumad]

47. Exactly

[dogman]

39. That is an MSM term.

Reagan was being given credit for voters who wanted change. A lot of votes were not for Reagan himself, but against the status quo. It wasn't just racism, although that was large, expressed in the welfare queen stereotype. People were concerned about the energy crisis and the powerlessness they felt. Carter had been taking hits from the Democratic Congressional leadership. Tip O'Neill was more responsive to the Reagan administration than to Carter. There was a lot of confusion and missteps by the inexperienced Carter staff. The NRA had, and still retains, a large influence on many middle class voters. I personally think this was the first push by the MSM to push corporate policy and they backed Reagan who had been a corporate spokesperson. There was a lot of political uncertainty because of the ripples from Watergate, Vietnam, and the social changes that were occurring. It was the use of fear as a political tool, that played upon people's fear that changes were too rapid and drastic. The 50's were glamorized as a safe time before sex, drugs, and rock and roll. That led to a rise in conservatism and fundamental religiosity. People were torn between their prior convictions and the fear of a changing world.

[BeFree]

42. It was/is a culture war

Carter warned the country that times were 'achanging and raygun promised a return to the bigoted, over-consumptive, nuclear missile wagging 50's.

Raygun waged a war on peace, Carter waged a war for peace.

America, by virtue of raygun's reign, went backwards. The fight for progress continues for us 'Kooks'.

[LoZoccolo]

46. That's right, and they better not vote for any more Democrats! n/t

[Forkboy]

72. Show the same regard for Greens then.

After all,if we need all the votes we can get maybe we shouldn't be shitting on them either,ya think?

[JVS]

79. The Greens still can vote?

I thought we had them locked up and ripped out their fingers and toes!

[Forkboy]

92. I suspect if certain people could they would eagerly stop Greens from voting.

Just as eagerly as the Repubs would like to stop Dems from voting.

[Zorra]

50. True. But I'd use the small "d" democrat also.

Reagan was the antithesis of democracy. He worked diligently at turning our democracy into a corporate oligarchy,and was very successful at it.

People that voted for him helped him to seriously weaken our democratic process.

[mdmc]

52. I disagree

Ray-gun Dems are just triangulating dems, just on the wrong party side...

I think Ray-gun was our worst President in my lifetime, including Nixon and Bush.

[Greyhound]

59. He did make the others possible, so I have to agree that he was the worst.

"Deregulation", or the elimination of government oversight as it really should be called, union busting, rescinded minority rights, the defeat of the ERA, in short a return to the "gilded age", are all his doing. Everything we've seen since then has simply been a continuation of his policies.

[mdmc]

64. God Bless Dennis Kucinich!

:toast::hi:

[Greyhound]

60. This should be on the Greatest Page!

:kick: & R

[leftofthedial]

65. bingo

[Cobalt-60]

67. They were suckers or collaborators

They were the initial enablers of the current generation of Republicon traitors.
Catchup as a vegetable sums up his entire administration.
It was under his administration that the method of interfering with regulatory agencies to enrich Republicon cronies was developed. they must have forced the OSHA office to move a dozen times.
That villainous pig goes into the same pen with Harding, Hoover, Nixon and the Shrubs.

[Forkboy]

70. Preach it Brother!

A-fuckin'-men!

[izzybeans]

73. I'd say gullible democrats. I was a child in the 80s. It took me to get to college

before I realized that people actually liked the guy. In my household he was a dumbass who lost his mind, and that was on a good day; a class-war wielding megalomaniac on every other day.

Dementia + former movie star = The Belief that space lasers are good national defense

Ronnie got his "ray-gun" and the poor paid the price.

[WI_DEM]

75. The Reagan "landslide" of 1980 is over represented too:

Since Reagan got 50% of the vote, Carter got 41% and Anderson got nearly 7% and assorted other third parties got about 2%. So Reagan won the first time by just over a majority. His electoral vote in '80 was helped by Anderson. Carter lost several states by very slim margins, in some cases 1 (or less)-3 points. Some of the closest states were:
New York
Massachusetts
Maine
Delaware
North Carolina
South Carolina
Mississippi
Tennessee
Arkansas
Alabama
Wisconsin

had Carter won all of those states he would have had 161 electoral votes rather than 49.

[Kelly Rupert]

76. I'd be careful about booting the centrists and center-right out of our party,

unless you want every electoral map to look like Lake Reagan in 1984.

[jgraz]

77. I have no problem with centrists in the Democratic party

Since, according to the polls, it seems that the centrists want an immediate end to the Iraq occupation, national healthcare and higher taxes on the rich. It also seems they want * & co impeached.

The problem I have is with pro-corporate, pro-war right-wingers infiltrating our party and pretending to be centrists. These people are basically rethugs running as Dems because they think that will win them more votes. And they can kiss my ass.

[Kelly Rupert]

83. You know what? I'm cool with those guys too.

Even Holy Joe. Because as long as they caucus with us, we keep our majority, which is the most important thing we could have.

[jgraz]

84. How is it the rethugs held power for so long without these kinds of compromises?

That's the question we really should be asking, not the "how long can I hold my nose in order to support yet another right-winger" question.

[Kelly Rupert]

85. They have a bigger base than we do.

Sorry.

[jgraz]

86. Just plain wrong

On the real issues -- especially economic -- the american people are far to the left of most Democratic leaders. I think it's that the rethugs are better at lying and have more money to broadcast the lies.

That, and many of the Dems are spineless wusses.

[Kelly Rupert]

87. You realize that "most people lean our way"

has nothing to do with the base, right?

Our base is smaller and more fractured than the Republican base. The moderates break our way. But that means we have to pay more attention to the moderates than the Republicans do. Bush won twice by engaging in a slash-and-burn style of politics that energizes both bases but turns off the middle. If we do the same, we're following the same plan Rove did, yes--and it will have the same results, being a Republican in the White House.

[jgraz]

89. I understand what "base" means

I think you're talking Democratic base, I'm talking progressive/populist base. My hypothesis is that the Democratic base is so small because mealy-mouthed triangulators don't inspire a lot of loyalty.

A charismatic, unapologetic progressive would walk away with the election in 2008. Look at how many people jumped at crazy old Mike Gravel, just because he told the truth and showed some passion.

[Greyhound]

98. Americans don't vote for Republiks because they agree with their

stands and positions, but because they take stands and hold their positions. If we ever figure that out, I think we would be pleasantly surprised.

[jgraz]

101. Couldn't agree more -- the sheep just need a shepherd.

They really don't care where they're led, as long as they don't have to make the decision. Also, if the leader appeals to hate and fear, so much the better.

That's why the rich are so afraid of "class warfare". If the middle and lower classes in this country ever figure out who's really been hosing them all these years, it's going to make the French Revolution look like a fucking tea party.

[JVS]

80. Are the Reagan Democrats still alive?

If these were working-class people, traditionally Dems, in their 50's back in 1980, they could very well be nearly extinct now.

[clyrc]

88. My family hated Reagan with a white hot passion

they are moderate-to-conservative Dems, and they simply hated him. I was pretty young when he was first elected, and when I hear how popular Reagan was during his presidency, I remember how furious my grandpa (a Union man) got when his name was mentioned. I thought most reasonable people hated him, and it was a surprise to find out this wasn't true.

[jgraz]

90. I was too young to vote, but Reagan scared the shit out of me

Of course, my parents and all their friends and neighbors supported him. It was like living in Ray Bradbury's "Sound of Thunder".

[TwilightGardener]

96. Same exact story in my family. I was a kid, and because my

father also hated Reagan with a burning passion, I was stunned to realize later that many folks thought he was a good President. Even more stunned that lately he's been elevated to greatness. When my kids are adults, they will assume that the whole world thought Chimpy was the WORST PRESIDENT EVER. Let's hope they're not surprised by his elevation to...mediocrity.

[nam78_two]

91. Isn't that what Marcos (Kos) claims to be?

Or is he Ronald Reagan Republican? I respect what dailykos has done for the lefty blogging community in some ways, but in many ways I find him very over-bearing and kinda obnoxious. He posted a NARAL and The Sierra Club bashing post, the day after the 2006 election.

I so vastly prefer Skinner/Elad/ and EarlG and DU over that Kos gang.

[Clark2008]

95. Wow - following that logic means that more people than not

weren't actual Democrats.

I have a hard time buying that one.

[Festivito]

97. WRONG. You're just trying to divide us so you can claim a quick victory.

Reagan Democrats made a mistake, BUT,
. They did fight an overly entrenched Democratic party that was not clearly serving us.
. They did fight a legacy of dixie-crat racism in the south.

AND,

the way information came to us had changed with saturated TV and radio dials trusted in the way newspapers were once trusted, so that the mistake made is understandable.

NO Trumad,

What you are trying to do is to say that only the far left need speak, that that same far left -- with which I agree -- that same far left DOES NOT NEED TO ADDRESS THE MISINFORMATION that comprises our voting public attitude. No work at all. Just start spewing left-wing ideas and with no work just expect those who understand TO BE A MAJORITY. Or, for those to dumb to understand, to feel too stupid to vote. And on top of that to divide DU into good democrats and bad democrats to shut some of us down.

That just won't work.

No, this is a god-awful hideous foolish democracy and you need votes of those not yet educated in order to win even a tiny little mickey-mouse advancement. But, it beats the degredation of what the military industrial complex has in store for us.

-=-=- Freedom may not be free, but it certainly is not cheap. -=-=-

[chaska]

102. Or, if you were a real Dem, you were ignorant of Dem principles/values and/or Reagan's.

[krkaufman]

103. Easily duped, like those who voted for Bush.

[Crunchy Frog]

104. What's the definition on a "Reagan Democrat"?

I met people at Kucinich events who had voted for Reagan.

You could just as easily say Reagan wasn't really a Republican since he had been an FDR Democrat.

People don't always fit into the neat little categories we try to squeeze them into.

[Tejanocrat]

107. Reagan Democrat = Carnivorous Vegan