Surely Ronald Reagan would not have endorsed Ronald Reagan.

And, of course, Wellstone voted for DOMA.

The best was when Huckabee endorsed Reagan.

Digg this story here

Well, yeah, if you're going to concentrate on the last seven years.

"The Democratic candidates need more questions, I think, on why Paul Wellstone would have endorsed them."

I agree. But here's how the average voter responds when he or she hears that question:

Who's Paul Wellstone?

Sigh. Edwards was always proud of the fact that he won the AFL-CIO's "Paul Wellstone Award."

I wonder what Wellstone would have to say to us now...

Let's not forget that Reagan flip flopped in character from being the liberal head of the Screen Actor's Guild to being a right wing speechifier who bored his first wife with his rhetoric.

Well I disagree on the FDR point. In my view the main reason he has been diminished is that the economic right sold a narrative on the centerpiece of the New Deal, i.e. Social Security.

People under the age of say 45 are convinced that Social Security was a great deal for their grandparents, a good deal for their parents but simply will not be there at all for them. Social Security has been largely transformed from the Third Rail of American politics to the poster child for Big Government is the Problem.

This narrative has been so internalized that it is impossible to shake by education, people simply glaze over. It can however be shattered by demonstration. The crisis model gets more fragile each year that passes and this is true even with some years of disappointing growth and a near term recession looming. By my examination of the numbers sometime within the next Presidential term leadership will be forced to admit that FDR has been fully vindicated and that Social Security as currently configured is fully solvent going forward. Until then supporters of Social Security just need to play defense.

But when it happens some older progressives are going to unleash out Inner FDR. The New Deal is poised for a comeback.

Um, Ezra? That "subscribe" ad down at the bottom of the page? With the big close-up photo of some now-canonized liberal icon? 'Member him?

That "subscribe" ad down at the bottom of the page? With the big close-up photo of some now-canonized liberal icon? 'Member him?

Al Gore is our Reagan? Ugh.

It's not a terrible analogy, though, given that the Al Gore of our minds is far more principled and progressive than was the Al Gore of the Clinton administration or the Al Gore of the 2000 campaign.

Interesting to note also: people who resent John Edwards for having governed as a moderate before he moved left after leaving office don't seem to have the same problem with Al Gore, for some reason. A lot of the same people who couldn't get over Edwards's moderate past giggle like schoolgirls when Al Gore's name is mentioned.

Someday, the question will be: "Would Barack Obama endorse you?"

or would The New York Post?

So, Ezra, what you're really saying is that Republicans are more doctrinaire and dogmatic than Democrats?

Isn't that a good thing?

Good point, Andrew. The pressure to resemble the Reagan-who-never-was tends to make Republicans less electable, not more. Reagan never cleaved to the ideals that are attributed to him because cleaving to those ideals inhibits effective governance and hinders the construction of a ruling coalition.

You left out my favorite, when Reagan slapped a tariff on Japanese motorcycles to protect Harley-Davidson workers and investors. Protectionism over free market capitalism, anyone?

FDR, of course, but no one compares themselves to him -- he's passed too far into myth.

I agree with that solely off my personal experience. I'm 28 now and up until about 6 years ago, the only FDR I really knew was Franklin Delano Romanowski.

Then I read Jonathan Alter's "The Defining Moment." What you get out of that book isn't necessarily so much about how FDR was right on policy but how he was willing to try new things, to ask just about everyone for their opinion, and used a unique blend of political awareness, skill and outward personality to pull it off. I don't see any of the candidates matching up to that in a strict sense.

Vous avez laissé mon favori, lorsque Reagan giflé un tarif sur les motos japonaises pour protéger les Harley-Davidson des travailleurs et des investisseurs. Le protectionnisme sur le libre-marché le capitalisme, tout le monde?

asdsafdsfdsgfdgfdg
asdsafdsfdsgfdgfdg
asdsafdsfdsgfdgfdg

adsadsfd

asaddfdf
fdsfdsf
asaddfdf
fdsfdsf
asaddfdf
fdsfdsf
asaddfdf
fdsfdsf

asaddfdf
fdsfdsf
asaddfdf
fdsfdsf

asaddfdf
fdsfdsf

kjhkjhklhjkl jkkj
دردشة

hjgjhgjh illkjlk
دردشة العراق

oioiuoiio oiuio
شات كويتي

thankss good jaeb

gooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooood