From
BushRecall.org:
Bush and the Reagan Legacy
6/7/2004
America witnessed the passing of a former president and conservative icon this weekend, as Ronald Reagan succumbed to complications from Alzheimer's disease at the age of 93. It is impossible to overstate Reagan's impact on American politics, although his PR team ensured that his administration's agenda could forever be summarized into tidy soundbytes. Of course, what many people remember most about the Reagan years was an overwhelming sense of optimism - a far cry from the negative, biting tone set by the White House today.
It seems inevitable that Karl Rove and company will attempt to capitalize on Reagan's legacy during this tough campaign season, but it remains a tricky task. Conservatives have worked tirelessly over the past 16 years to elevate Reagan's legacy into the pantheon of great American presidents. This endless promotion has turned Reagan into a deity of sorts. How can Bush possibly compare?
The Republican leadership seems undaunted by the challenge. "The parallels [between Bush and Reagan] are there. I don't know how you can miss them," said Ed Gillespie, Republican Party national chairman.
"In many ways, George W. Bush and the policies that he put forward stand on the shoulders of Ronald Reagan," said Ken Mehlman, Bush's campaign manager.
While some Democrats are worried that Bush will simply ride the coattails of his conservative predecessor back into the good graces of the American public, that possibility seems unlikely given the similarities - and differences - between the two men. Let's take a moment to explore the very real possibility of the opposite effect: George W. Bush's incessant invocations of Ronald Reagan and his legacy will expose the underside of the Reagan administration and actually enhance the shortcomings of both administrations.
As Gillespie said, the parallels are there. Let's take a look.
Both Reagan and Bush trumpeted tax cuts for the wealthy as an economic elixir. Neither man figured out a way to pay for them. Under Reagan, the federal deficit exploded from $74 billion from Jimmy Carter's final year to $155 billion in Reagan's final year. Bush has presided over the largest federal deficits in history, making Reagan's deficits seem small by comparison.
Reagan presided over the Iran-Contra scandal, in which a cabal of administration officials engaged in an illegal arms-for-hostages deal with Iran. The Bush administration's foreign policy has been similarly hijacked by a small group of ideologically-driven neoconservatives who twisted information to mold US policy to their liking.
The Reagan administration attempted to convince the American public that trees cause pollution. The Bush administration has put forward the Healthy Forests Initiative - which cuts down trees.
Reagan was president while the S&L scandal rocked Wall Street. Ken Lay - an old friend of Bush's - turned everything on its ear when his company, Enron, went belly-up, in what many called the biggest corporate scandal...since the S&L scandal of the Reagan years.
But there are also significant differences. President Bush has fashioned himself a divisive profile - far from the genial, grandfatherly image that Reagan projected. If Bush latches on to Reagan, he runs two main risks:
Conservatives within the Republican Party - who already have grave doubts about Bush's commitment to their cause - will reject the comparison as blasphemous and grow angry over the administration's smug political maneuvers.
Reagan's legacy will be tarnished by Bush's low public standing, and his legendary optimism will be overshadowed by the Bush team's biting rhetoric.
With the benefit of hindsight, Reagan supporters have transformed a man who was a modestly popular president into a larger than life figure. But Reagan, for all his policy flaws, was hard not to like. Bush and his team, by contrast, have tried to win by brass-knuckle paybacks to opponents and by trying to scare the bejeezus out of voters every chance they get. Reagan invited people to join his way of thinking as a vision for the future - unlike Bush, who threatens and ostracizes those who don't see things his way.
Consider that Reagan actually took some accountability for the Iran-Contra scandal, stating that "this happened on my watch," and that he helped establish a meaningful dialogue with the Soviet Union and strengthened our relationship with Europe. Accountability has been nonexistent in the Bush administration, and our relationships with all countries with whom we don't see precisely eye-to-eye have soured drastically. By dragging Reagan into his own dirty fight, President Bush would help deflate Reagan's balloon.
The fact that the Bush administration has been determined to turn this election into a dirty fight is what separates it from the high-minded optimism of the Reagan years as well. Whereas Reagan proclaimed it to be "Morning in America," Bush has resorted to selling doom and gloom and scaring the American public. This is the same administration that has revealed the identity of an undercover CIA operative to settle a political score - a tactic that was far more reminiscent of Richard Nixon than Ronald Reagan. Sunny optimism has been trumped by Machiavellian hardball in the Bush administration.
Reagan shepherded this nation through a difficult decade. Whether you agreed or disagreed with his policy choices, there was little doubt about his intentions - something that cannot be said of the current administration. By conjuring the spirit of Reagan in his campaign stops, Bush could very well dilute the legend that so many in his own party worked to create. And by their nasty political tactics and fear-mongering, they are reminding people more of Nixon than of the amiable man who passed away on Saturday.
Source:
The Daily Reality Check
