Quote the Reagan Nevermore

Every Republican presidential debate I've watched thus far has included several references to Ronald Reagan. President Reagan seems to be one thing absolutely all the Republican candidates can agree on: they admire, emulate, and want to be favorably compared to him. The steady deluge of Reagan references is not simply about the candidates wishing to voice their admiration of a former president, though; surely the Republicans are trying to send a message to the voters as well. In fact, I think they are trying to send several messages to the American public. First and foremost, each of the Republican candidates would like to appear the most "Reaganesque" simply because Ronald Reagan has remained a relatively beloved and admired president; there are plenty of Reagan voters that will be also voting in 2008, so it serves the candidates well to court those voters. Secondly, I think some people do think the Cold War and the War on Terror are similar in their unconventionality; to me, they seem like pretty different beasts considering the Cold War was essentially a conflict between governments and the War on Terror is anything but that, yet I do understand why Republican candidates would like to appear to be as capable of leading America through an unconventional war as Reagan was. Thirdly, this is the first presidential campaign which began after Reagan's death, so this is the first time politicians have had free rein to reference Ronald Reagan at will. They certainly have taken advantage of that opportunity, to the point of gratuity in my opinion.

Although the repetition of the Reagan name is tiresome, I think there are other reasons why Ronald Reagan should perhaps not be referenced by candidates as much as he has been so far this year. Speaking personally, I don't really remember Ronald Reagan; I lived my first six years with him as the president, but the first George Bush is the first person I recognized as being the president. Assuming that the people with the most vivid memories of the Reagan years were at least aged 12 during the 1980 election, people who are younger than 39 are going to be much less personally attached to Ronald Reagan. They know Reagan from studying history and politics and listening to older people, but that's not quite the same thing as being aware of the Reagan presidency as it was happening. So, for some young people at least the frequent mentions of Ronald Reagan will alienate them from the campaigns. That's not so terrible, necessarily; young people are notorious non-voters. However, I think the Reagan references may also alienate older people as well due to the passage of time. A lot has happened since the Reagan years. Two decades cannot be wiped away in a flash; memories of September 11th trouble more Americans right now than memories of the Cold War do in spite of the anxiety and terror caused by the latter. When people like Giuliani, McCain, Hunter, Huckabee, Brownback, and Romney invoke the name of Reagan, I often wonder if they wouldn't rather be bringing up the man whose policies they agree so much with: George W. Bush. It seems like President Bush's unpopularity in the moment has forced the candidates to seize the Reagan mantle when the Bush mantle would better fit their shoulders. That leads me to my final point: if Reagan could be mentioned when it is appropriate and not simply name-dropped at random moments, the political discourse in this country would become a little bit more truthful and sophisticated automatically. Truthful politicians should speak of Bush when they mean Bush and Reagan when they mean Reagan.