Reagan Detour: Conservative Revolutionary
Ronald Reagan for years made his living as an industry spokesman. He represented the General Electric Company on television and in appearances around the country from 1956 to 1965. Then, in a sense, beginning sometime in the mid-1970s, he became a spokesman for a new industry -- a conservative "ideas industry."
The rise of Reagan and his election to the presidency was a triumph of ideas, not of images as is commonly claimed. Richard Reeves, one of America's liveliest political commentators, follows Reagan across the political landscape, reporting on how this man who is now at the center of it all managed to capture (and bend to his will) the power of old-fashioned American populism.
American belief, optimism and common sense weren't invented by Ronald Reagan, but they served him well, as they have others who would lead their fellow Americans in the pursuit of happiness.
In this regard, Reeves compares Reagan to Franklin D. Roosevelt, even as he argues that Reaganism has failed and that instead of restoring America's faith in themselves and in their big self-government, this conservative president has succeeded in doing the opposite. The Reagan years will be remembered as a detour in the long American road of liberal democratization.
The Republicans polished and manipulated certain ideas for their purposes and recaptured intellectual dominance and political power. Reeves argues that the liberals must now respond with the kind of fresh and vibrant ideas that he lays out in this book. The Reagan Detour combines perceptive on-the-scene reporting with a deeper and broader perspective that will bring readers a fuller realization of what has been happening in American political life.
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Obama So Far: Good Job!
LOS ANGELES — This is about what I think, expressed cleverly by another columnist, Froma Harrop of the Providence Journal:
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A Congressman Reaches Out -- And Ducks!
RESEDA, Calif. — Rep. Brad Sherman, a Democrat from the 27th District of California in the San Fernando Valley of Los Angeles, is a congressman who is obviously not afraid of his constituents. Many are these days, but Sherman takes out advertisements in local newspapers urging people to come and reason with (or yell at) him at "Town Hall" meetings.
Naturalized On The Fourth Of July
LOS ANGELES — Among the charges leveled against King George III on July 4, 1776, in the Declaration of Independence was this one:
The Special Relationship Is Very Special
WASHINGTON — The 300th British soldier was killed in Afghanistan last week, which means that, proportionately, Great Britain is paying a higher price in manpower and money out there. That's 300 dead in a 10,000-troop commitment compared with the United States' 1,126 deaths with a commitment of more than 94,000 troops right now.
Let Us Now Praise Famous Conspiracy Theories
WASHINGTON — Last Saturday morning, Mike Allen's Politico Playbook, the early-morning blog Washington whisperers wake up to, began this way:
The California Winners: Corporate Power
LOS ANGELES — You can't fool all the people all the time, only about 48 percent. That, rather than the triumph of women billionaires, may be the abiding lesson of California's spring elections this year.
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LOS ANGELES — President Obama, in an impossible position, decided to take a page from the Harry Truman-John F. Kennedy playbook as oil fouled the Gulf of Mexico and the second year of his presidency.
The Republican Political Bubble
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Pentagon Papers II
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Events Are In The Saddle
NEW YORK — Let us now praise famous cliches.
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LOS ANGELES — There is a sweet little proposition on this year's California ballot, 15 by number. Authored by state Sen. Loni Hancock, a Democrat from Berkeley, Proposition 15 would institute public financing for one state office, secretary of state.
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The Lady Of The House
SAN FRANCISCO — Nancy Pelosi was a Democratic Party activist practically from the moment she was born, the daughter of a Maryland congressman. But at 47, the mother of five children had never run for public office — and did not think she ever would. She had promised herself she would never even think about it until her youngest finished high school.
The Power Of Zero
DALLAS — Remember the good old days? Remember when a Republican senator, Olympia Snowe of Maine, said she heard history calling? Well, history did call and not a single Republican answered in Washington. Zero in the Senate. Zero in the House.
Obama's Secret Weapon: The Tea Partiers
LOS ANGELES — The Republican Party of California met in convention last weekend and listened to five candidates for governor and United States senator in the state's June 8 primary election. They fell all over themselves trying to sound like tea partiers.
Students Wake Up In California
LOS ANGELES — Thousands of California students, from graduate students to kindergarten kids, walked out of their classrooms last Thursday to peacefully (mostly) demonstrate against the decline of education in the Golden State. Could this be the start of something big? Something bigger than tea bags?