Word: reaganism
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Back in January 2008, while meeting with the editorial board of the Reno Gazette-Journal before the Democratic Nevada caucuses, Barack Obama offered some approving commentary on the legacy and influence of the 40th President. Ronald Reagan, he said, "changed the trajectory of America in a way that, you know, Richard Nixon did not and in a way that Bill Clinton did not." Not surprisingly, Obama's remark riled both Hillary Clinton and her husband, who viewed it as demeaning to the achievements of the Clinton Administration as well as a cheap tactic to win favor with some...
...reality, Obama (and, for that matter, the Clintons) has a long history of paying public homage to the leadership and political skills of Reagan, even while disagreeing with his policies...
...just as Reagan struggled to find his footing at the start of his first term, Obama is straining to revive his political mojo. And so as the President prepares for his first official State of the Union address, here are five elements of the Gipper's arsenal that his latest successor would be smart to follow...
...Stand for a few big things. Obama rode to his party's nomination as the anti-Clinton and won the general election as the anti-Bush without ever having to define his political persona. Reagan's policies didn't always live up to his mantra (lower taxes, stronger defense, family values), but he was able to fit most of his major initiatives and high-profile events under that simple tripartite rubric...
...terrorism: it made a point of never botching an attack, bombing or kidnapping. So when Hizballah said it was not going to stop until it drove the West out of Lebanon, that threat carried a lot of weight. And the credibility of Hizballah's threat convinced U.S. President Ronald Reagan that Lebanon was lost, which prompted him to withdraw the Marines who were stationed there. In the Middle East, this is not stale history; and it's a history that bin Laden certainly hasn't forgotten. (See pictures of the life of Osama bin Laden...