Letters to the Editor
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The mantle of Reagan
I'd like to express some skepticism about the efficacy of wrapping yourself with the mantle of Reagan as a way of getting votes. Is there any empirical data that shows that this works outside of the Republican base? In fact, didn't Bill Clinton center his whole 1992 campaign on running AGAINST Reagan? If I remember correctly, the Clinton rhetoric was all about Reagan/Bush, which makes me think that Clinton knew there was a political ADVANTAGE to be gained by linking Bush to his predecessor. Now you can say that this was true in 1992 because voters were weary of 12 years of uninterrupted Republican rule, and maybe time has put some of the luster back on the Gipper's reputation. But I think that one of the big things that people still remember about Reagan/Bush is that they ran up huge deficits which looked insurmountable in 1992, which the Clinton Administration managed to get under control. Personally I think that the Republicans who try to claim the mantle of Reagan only end up making fools of themselves, because they're all transparantly trying to be something that they're not. I would guess that a large percentage of the people who voted for Ronald Reagan liked Reagan the man more than they necessarily liked Reaganomics.