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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Welcome to Britain's Brave New World
LONDON — A prominent, aggressive and ambitious Conservative politician here, David Davis, recently resigned his seat in Parliament to protest a House of Commons vote extending the time a citizen can be held in jail without charges from 28 to 42 days. A national newspaper poll says 57 percent of respondents support his crusade, but they are almost certainly not telling the truth about that.
Column Archive
Which Side Are You On?
PARIS — Newspapers around the world have reprinted and focused on a story that appeared June 8 in The Observer in London about deep-seated racism in rural America. The headline:
"Democrats in Rural Strongholds Refuse to Give Backing to Obama."
They Love Obama, But They Can't Vote
PARIS — This was a nice place to be when Barack Obama finally nailed down the Democratic nomination for president. I happened to be speaking at the American Library in Paris last Wednesday evening, when someone asked whether I thought Obama's ascension would really change the world's view of the United States.
No Country for Old Governing
NEW YORK — I'm surprised that anyone is surprised that someone who was around President George W. Bush has finally said what has been obvious for years: The 43rd president is an ignorant, stubborn fellow isolated by a bodyguard of lies and liars.
The True Shame of The Iraq War
WASHINGTON — This is what I thought was the American social contract when I was growing up in the land of the free and the home of the brave: You could work your way through college, and if you got a decent job, you could buy a house within a few years.
Republicans Feel Heat of Burning Bush
WASHINGTON — "The Change You Deserve" may sound like scrambled Obama, but it was, in fact, considered as this election-year slogan of the National Republican Congressional Committee. It was rejected when someone noticed that it was also the slogan of a prescription drug called Effexor.
Whatever They Say, It's The Money!
WASHINGTON — When they say, "It's not the money ..." — it's the money!
After all is said and almost done, the numbers that are dragging Hillary Clinton to the end of her campaign are not delegate counts but dollar amounts. She is already more than $20 million in debt, and her campaign is costing something like $1 million a day.
Mc Cain, JFK, and the Health of Presidents
NEW YORK — A lot of smart people have spent a lot of time trying to figure out how and why President John F. Kennedy seemed to evolve from an indecisive fool in launching the Bay of Pigs invasion of April 1961 into the cool and calm commander defusing the Cuban Missile Crisis in October 1962.
It's Race, Stupid!
LOS ANGELES — Face it: "Electability" is just another way of saying Barack Obama is black. The overuse of the word right now is a way of assuring voters, Democrat and Republican, that if they do not want or could not abide a black president, they are not alone.
Enough Already With The Fake Debates
LOS ANGELES — This campaign is SO over. It is hard to imagine a debate worse than the Clinton-Obama stand-up on Wednesday night in Philadelphia. In case you missed them between what seemed like a hundred commercials, Sen. Hillary Clinton, the shorter white one, and Sen. Barack Obama, the taller black one, answered (or endured) a road-show production of "Dumb and Dumber," starring Charles Gibson and George Stephanopoulos.
Hillary Clinton: The Big Mistake
LOS ANGELES — Last Thursday, about a year too late, I read the "2008 Delegate Selection Rules for the Democratic National Convention." Not a fun read, I must add, which may be the reason Sen. Hillary Clinton, or her people, and most of the press, did not read or understand its 25 dense pages.
On the Matter of Torture
LOS ANGELES — The order from the commander in chief regarding torture of prisoners was clear: "It has been recognized at all times that this manner of interrogating human beings, of putting them under torture, produces nothing good. The unfortunates say whatever comes into their heads, and everything they think we want to know."
Is Mc Cain the Real Mc Coy?
LOS ANGELES — I would guess that Sen. John McCain has about a 1-in-3 chance of being the next president of the United States. It's a tough slog when you're running under the crest of one of the worst presidencies we've ever had — in the middle of a recession, and a hateful war and hated occupation he says we will stick with even if it takes a hundred years.
Hearing The Obama Speech
LOS ANGELES — If Barack Obama is elected president, his speech on race in America will be remembered as one of the greatest in the country's history. If he loses, it will still be remembered as a terrific speech, an astonishing display of grace under pressure.
To Hell With The Fallen Hero
NEW YORK — How intellectual, how literate, how urbane is Manhattan? Well, where else can you find people at lunch speaking Latin?
The Way The Press Really Works
LOS ANGELES — "Media 101 With Professor Obama" was the headline the Los Angeles Times put over a short story about Barack Obama's walk to the back of his campaign plane to scold reporters for going "squishy" on Hillary Clinton.
Ah, To Be Young And In Politics!
LOS ANGELES — You couldn't ask for much better than this — at least if you're a reporter. Depending on their personal preferences, Republicans or Democrats might have their problems with Tuesday's results in Texas and Ohio, but for those of us looking for trouble — and that is our business — there is something to be said for a Democratic tie (of sorts), with the Clintons controlling the old guard and Barack Obama leading the new party.
Why Hillary Stumbled
LOS ANGELES — The "fellas" who worked for Ronald Reagan — he called them that because he couldn't remember their names — rarely saw the boss angry. But James Lake, a campaign press secretary, did, just once.