The Republican Presidential hopefuls gather tonight at the Reagan Library to debate each other. My personal view of this group is that there could hardly be another set of people so wrong for the office of President of the United States. But I really wonder how the guy whose name is on the door of the building would feel about them.
Whatever else Reagan was, he was a practical politician. Most of his would-be successors in his own party this cycle are hard-core ideologues. They all conveniently forget that Reagan expanded access to Medicare and Social Security and raised taxes several times over during his two terms. Here’s a rundown of some of the ads these guys have run claiming his mantle while ignoring his tax hikes.
Here’s the WaPo’s What-to-Watch For primer on the debate.
Like you, I was an adult during the Reagan years. I remember what he did. (He pissed me off regularly.) Small-government, hell – he tripled the national debt and massively increased the size of the government. He raised taxes when he thought he needed to. What irritates the crap out of me about these people is that they Don’t Know What They’re Talking About when it comes to Ronnie Popular. I don’t think that a Tea Party whack job can beat an incumbent Barack Obama in 2012, but if one does, God help this country, because no one else will be able to.