Jay Bookman points us to Jeb Bush who just trounced on the holy grail, Jay makes an important point:
The Republican Party is trapped in its worship of the Myth of Ronald Reagan, as opposed to the real-life Ronald Reagan. As I’ve pointed out before, the real Reagan was a practical politician who signed three major tax increases, something his followers would find it impossible to forgive in a modern politician.
Jeb’s outburst of candor drew the expected reaction. In the conservative blogosphere (examples here and here), most advocated pushing the Bush family out of the party and embracing the sainted Reagan.
But I’m not sure even Jeb understands the real problem. In his comments over the weekend, he stressed the fact that conservatives “have principles, we have values. They are the values that are shared by the majority of Americans, there’s no question about it. But we have to now take those principles and values and apply them to the challenges that our country faces today and in the future.”
Principles and values are important, but the American people are more interested in answers and solutions. How do I pay for my sick kid’s health care? How do we reverse the greatest economic collapse in 80 years? How come I worked hard and studied hard and lost my house and job, while CEOs who destroy their companies walk off with $20 million bonuses?
Reagan — the real Reagan — talked a lot about values and principles, but he also understood that compromise made governance possible. That’s how he got things done, by working with Tip O’Neill and others. I suspect Reagan would be pretty alarmed at the radical notions that some folks attribute to him nowadays.
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