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Just 148 Days Left: The Reagan Effect

By Mark Grueter

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My favorite Ronald Reagan anecdote is the one about him telling two prominent Jews (Yitzhak Shamir and Simon Wiesenthal) on two separate occasions that he personally helped liberate individuals from Nazi death camps (he did not, though a character he once played in a film did). Wtih stories such as this in mind, I am surprised to see all of the attention being paid to this man who had a very loose grip on reality. He died on Saturday and we are all still talking about it, but has he not been practically dead for at least ten years? The Reagan story has caught fire in a way that would have made Richard Nixon, an equally notable figure who didn’t receive half the coverage that “the Gipper” is getting, jealous.

It is disappointing to see long-time opponents of Reagan, such as John Kerry, praise the former conservative President, as if it’s bad form to criticize the recently deceased. It is not. We need criticism of Reagan now more than ever in order to counter the endless flow of sentimental, groveling eulogies all over the mainstream media. And it always seems like those who feign reverence for the death of one well-known figure also, and at the same time, regard with callousness and indifference the deaths of unknown multitudes, like Mr. Reagan himself was known to do. Kerry should either tell us exactly what he thought of Reagan or not say anything at all. But Kerry should not have pretended that he held any admiration for Reagan, because as statements from the past testify, he simply did not.

The New York Times reported that Kerry has canceled all of his political events for the week out of respect for Reagan. Can someone tell me what one has to do with the other? The Democratic nominee for President canceled two star-studded fundraisers slated for New York and Los Angeles with tickets going at $200 so that we could all collectively pay homage to a much-hated Republican President? It doesn’t matter that these fundraisers wouldn’t have received much press coverage, because the point was to raise money, not grab media attention. It’s an obvious attempt to pander to the consensus.

President Bush and many of his flacks have long tried to paint Dubya as Reagan’s true successor. And there is something to it: both men are folksy, outside-the-Beltway, straight-talkers who possess vision (however demented) and moral clarity. Ideologues, both men are pockmarked by a belief in simultaneous big tax cuts and big spending; on foreign policy the terrorists have simply replaced the communists. The obvious similarities between the two combined with Kerry’s repeatedly harsh denunciations of Bush make Kerry’s measly words of praise for Reagan all the more pathetic and cowardly.

Will Reagan’s death affect this year’s election? I think by November it’ll be mostly forgotten. Some Republicans fear that tapes of old Reagan speeches will make Americans realize just how poor an orator Bush is. But if large numbers of Americans really cared so much about rhetorical skills, Bush never would have been elected in the first place. Bush is obviously not as appealing a candidate as Reagan, which is why he only managed to squeak by the wooden Al Gore while Reagan beat a charismatic sitting president named Jimmy Carter before trouncing his Democratic opponent in the midterm election. Conservatives will never adore Bush like they did Reagan (Pat Buchanan named his cat “the Gipper” – is anyone’s pet named “Dubya”?) but they will stubbornly fight for him with just as much vigor.

And Democrats fear that nostalgia for Reagan’s charm will make many independents look for those qualities in the next president. (In the charm department, I guess Bush edges out Kerry). But this supposes that these independents had forgotten all about Reagan before Saturday.

Perhaps the more interesting question concerns stem-cell research. Nancy Reagan is compassionately for stem-cell research largely because, one presumes, her husband died of a disease that is presently incurable. Everybody knows that increased stem-cell research could render the cure for Alzheimer’s and many other illnesses. But President Bush is against stem-cell research because he believes it’s the equivalent of killing a fetus. Not even Reagan's death can convert religious fanatics to the merits of science, and this demonstrates just how ideologically-driven and terrifying the GOP has become since his two terms. It also signals a coming Democratic victory.

Click here for Grueter's previous column.

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Mark Grueter is a writer living in New York City and the Managing Editor of Canon Magazine. He can be reached at grueter@methree.net.

© 2004 Me Three