Thinking back to the debates during Republican Presidential Primary, Ronald Reagan was omnipresent. The January 30th debate was particularly infused with the ghost of Ronald Reagan—not only was the debate held at the Reagan Library, the 40th President’s name was mentioned 52 times over the course of the hour-long debate. Frankly, given the lack of enthusiasms for the Republican presidential candidates, I suspect that a large number would have preferred to nominate the ghost of Ronald Reagan to any of the 5 candidates on the stage that night.
Republicans are right to admire President Reagan, should cherish his legacy and promote his principles. However, lately it seems that instead of offering new and innovative solutions to our country’s problems, Republicans instinctively run to the Reagan legacy and recite his mantra of “lower taxes and less government.” But as the number years between Reagan Presidency and today grows larger and Republican’s credibility on fiscal issues grows smaller (although recent trends Republican’s regaining trust on fiscal issues) invoking Reagan has lost its relevance in today’s political environment. Like Brett Farve, Republicans have played on the Regan legacy for one too many seasons and seen diminished performance as a result. Consider the following:
· 4.5 million eligible voters were not alive when Reagan left office
· 15.3 million eligible voters had not been born when the “Morning in America” ads were first aired
· 25.8 million eligible voters were not alive when Reagan asked Americans if they were better off than they were 4 years ago
· 35.7 million eligible voters had not been born when Reagan narrowly lost the 1976 GOP Presidential nomination
· 57.4 million eligible voters were not alive when Reagan gave his famous “A Time for Choosing” speech.
The point is that Reagan has moved on from being political figure to a historical one. Each election more and more of the electorate knows of Reagan only as name in the history books. Conversely, fewer and fewer voters remember feeling the optimism that Reagan brought back to the country after his election in 1980 or the feeling national pride when Reagan told Gorbachev to “tear down this wall.”
Much like Lincoln, we need to talk about Reagan’s principles not his policies. You won’t find any candidates talking about Lincoln’s tax plan, but is virtually impossible to find a candidate who doesn’t mention Lincoln’s name when talking about equality. In Reagan’s case, we need talk about his principles of freedom and opportunity and move beyond repeating the phrase lower taxes and less government.
In the upcoming debates on healthcare, the expanding role of government in our economy, job creation we need to frame the issues around the ideas of freedom and opportunity. When we do we will remind Americans why conservative principles, Reagan’s principles, are the way to make America a shining city on the hill.
