Bush said that it is time for the Party to leave behind its “nostalgia” for the heyday of the Reagan era and look forward, even if it means stealing the strategy deployed by the Democrats in 2008. “You can’t beat something with nothing, and the other side has something. I don’t like it, but they have it and we have to be respectful and mindful of that,” Jeb said. He continued to say that President Obama’s message of hope and change really resonated with Americans.
Everything so far is true and accurate. However, letting go of the Reagan era is something that is not necessarily the answer.
As time continues, and generations fade into the sunset of their lives and younger generation sprout up, old ideas tend to become irrelevant. Out with the old and in with the new, right? Fashion changes. Cars change. Technology changes. Sure enough, as time slips into the future, everything changes. However, some ideas, some people are iconic and in the sense they are everlasting; they are eternal. When something is true, it can withstand the trial and tribulations of time; this is especially the case with ideas. Ronald Reagan is iconic. There are volumes written about Ronald Reagan, both as a man and as a president. Articles upon articles try to define his legacy. If you had to sum up his legacy, if you had to point your finger on the one ideal that defined him, it would have to be his unwavering optimism. His strong belief in America and in Americans. In his words and actions, Ronald Reagan was the iconic optimist.
In 1980, America was dark times. Americans were taken hostage in Tehran. Prime interest rates averaged 15.26%, inflation was at 15.5% and unemployment was at an alarming 7.1%. Times were tough and Americans were feeling it. They were being worn thin. They lost confidence in their President, they lost hope, and their belief in the American dream began to dwindle. Then, there was Ronald Reagan. A governor from California and former actor. He came crashing through like a whirlwind offering Americans hope and optimism. He made Americans feel like things are going to get better, that not all is lost. He made them believe in themselves once again. He restored their love of this country and all it stood for.
His campaign slogan in 1980 was “Let’s Make America Great Again”. His battle cry was “Are you better off than four years ago?” If not, the time has come for change. Words like hope, change, greatness, a better future, sprinkled through many of his speeches. When he accepted the Republican nomination on July 17th 1980 at the RNC convention in Detroit, Reagan stood before the American people and scoffed the idea that, “the united states has had its days in the sun; that our nation has passed its zenith.” Reagan delivered the message that America’s best days lay ahead. “The American people, the most generous on earth, who create the highest standard of living, are not going to accept the notion that we can only make a better world for others by moving backwards ourselves.”
“I will not stand by and watch this great country destroy itself under mediocre leadership that drifts from one crisis to the next, eroding our national will and purpose,” he said in June of that year. “The time is now, my fellow Americans, to recapture our destiny, to take it into our own hands.”
And he stormed forward with that sense of optimism, with that dream of returning America to its former glory. His campaign theme was to restore America’s faith in itself once again, to rebuild its morale. Americans were inspired. Young voters swarmed to his campaign. This was just a campaign tactic or rhetoric. His presidency was defined by hope, optimism, change and strength. In 1984, Ronald Reagan’s campaign continued the message with the slogan: It Is Morning in America Again.
Reagan in 1984
When Jeb Bush said we might need to start to move on from the nostalgia of the Reagan era, he was right in a certain sense. We cannot scratch our heads and say “I can remember when…those were the days”. Thinking like that accomplishes nothing. That is the defeatist’s attitude. It is everything President Reagan wasn’t; that attitude was the disease he fought to uproot from the American mindset.
Bush is right, Obama had something in 2008; a solid message that inspired Americans. His campaign was organized; floating in cash and his message of hope and change captured the nation. Everyone, Democrat or Republican, admits that. However, they didn’t invent these ideas. It wasn’t original or groundbreaking. What Obama had, he took from us. It was pure Reaganism. It was the same message that Reagan used 20 years earlier to begin the revolution that would lead to a GOP majority. Hope. Change. A better tomorrow. All ideas and themes that Ronald Reagan celebrated during his career. However, the difference between President Obama and a Reagan is simple: Ronald Reagan’s policies and ideas enabled the idealist’s vision to become a reality while Obama’s change and hope will create an America that most Americans don’t want. Obama’s vision of America will not be the vision that most Americans thought they were voting for. Reagan helped move the country into a brighter, more promising tomorrow. Obama, unless we are all wrong, will lead us down a path that very few Americans are expecting or are waiting for. The tomorrow that Obama desperately wants to deliver will not embody the American dream. In 2012, when Americans are asked, “Are you better off today than four years ago,” I find it extremely difficult to believe that most people will say “yes”. Hopefully, that reality will sink in by 2010.
Republicans need to learn two things from the icon Ronald Reagan: 1. people need hope and they need to be optimistic that the darkness will dispense and light will eventually shine through and prevail, and 2. GOP policies must speak to that vision, must deliver on that vision, must make Americans believe that you can accomplish that vision and deliver on that hope.
Obama was an indescribable force in 2008. However, has time continues, and we see more of him as a leader of the free world, Americans will begin to define him rather quickly. And, like Jimmy Carter, iconic status will be beyond his reach. Americans will feel lost and searching for answers, longing for hope. If the GOP wants to survive, they will be the true agents of change, the true deliverers of hope. They will follow in the footsteps of Ronald Reagan and bring the country to the sunrise of a better tomorrow. That is a massive task, and they better get ready.
Obama in 2008
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