Capitalizing on home-field advantage, former President Ronald Reagan dominated last night’s GOP presidential debate at the Reagan Library, posthumously winning the first round. That said, the remaining field of living GOP candidates are faced with an uphill battle if they’re going to overcome “The Great Communicator’s” resurgence in the party. Although, recent history has been kind to GOP candidates who lose to dead people; just ask John Ashcroft, whose senatorial bid in Missouri was upended by a deceased candidate. Ashcroft’s defeat served as a stepping stone for landing an Attorney General a gig under President Bush.Based on what I heard during last night's non-debate, my guess is that Nancy Reagan gave the candidates a motivational speech just before going on stage, reminding them where the GOP used to stand when her husband was President. Either way, the GOP hopefuls took the stage imbibed with Ronald Reagan’s presence and the collective game plan of injecting Reagan into everything. I felt like I was listening to Jim Zabel calling an Iowa Hawkeye football game, conveniently threading in commercials into his color commentary:
Zabel: “He’s got a man wide open in the end zone. The pass is up, it’s a beauty. The Hawkeyes are going to score. Touchdown! He dropped it! Nobody around him for miles and he dropped the ball. Unbelievable! Speaking of unbelievable and dropping, come on down to Nathan Arizona’s Unpainted Furniture, where prices are dropping as we speak. That’s Nathan Arizona’s Unpainted Furniture, proud supporter of your Iowa Hawkeyes.”
Albeit a slight exaggeration, the GOP hopefuls made allusions to Reagan on several occasions. The Republican Party is still in a recovery mode after their political trouncing in the ’06 election. The GOP is suffering an identity crisis, and it appears they’re looking back to the GOP salad days of President Reagan to help find answers and conservative rebirth. During the first portion of the non-debate, I thought the Cold War was still going on. Although, maybe these guys are on to something; resurrecting a good ‘ol fashioned Cold War may be just the remedy to stamp out the War on Terror.
Before the non-debate I posed the question: Will the Real Conservative please stand up?
After the non-debate, the next question the GOP hopefuls are asking as a means of searching their party’s soul and presidential nomination is:
Zabel: “He’s got a man wide open in the end zone. The pass is up, it’s a beauty. The Hawkeyes are going to score. Touchdown! He dropped it! Nobody around him for miles and he dropped the ball. Unbelievable! Speaking of unbelievable and dropping, come on down to Nathan Arizona’s Unpainted Furniture, where prices are dropping as we speak. That’s Nathan Arizona’s Unpainted Furniture, proud supporter of your Iowa Hawkeyes.”
Albeit a slight exaggeration, the GOP hopefuls made allusions to Reagan on several occasions. The Republican Party is still in a recovery mode after their political trouncing in the ’06 election. The GOP is suffering an identity crisis, and it appears they’re looking back to the GOP salad days of President Reagan to help find answers and conservative rebirth. During the first portion of the non-debate, I thought the Cold War was still going on. Although, maybe these guys are on to something; resurrecting a good ‘ol fashioned Cold War may be just the remedy to stamp out the War on Terror.
Before the non-debate I posed the question: Will the Real Conservative please stand up?
After the non-debate, the next question the GOP hopefuls are asking as a means of searching their party’s soul and presidential nomination is:
Will the next Ronald Reagan please stand up?
Ten Little Reagans: Which one of these lucky contestants will be the next Ronald Reagan?
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