Ronald Reagan: At first, of course, there was the difference on taxes and spending; a difference that we drove home in the 1984 campaign. We were against big government and more regulation and higher taxes, and the liberals in the other party couldn’t stop talking about how good a tax increase and more government would be for us. And then the people told the liberals exactly what they thought of that bit of castor-oil economics. Maybe you remember—in 1948 [1984], 49 States spoke up and said no to liberalism. Now, I think the American people are beginning to see that this consistent difference in how the two sides approach government springs from deeper convictions about the nature of society and the rights of the individual. So, too, on the social issues, we believe in certain basic values that give a sense of order to our free society. And it’s these values the average American also readily identifies with. The public agrees with us when we say we are for the death penalty, school prayer, tough law enforcement, and against liberal organizations like the ACLU that always seem to be searching for technicalities to exonerate criminals. So, what does all this mean? Well, it’s way too early to say that this is the realignment election. But I do think many rank-and-file Democrats are getting in a mood to say to their party leadership: “You’ve gone too far to the left. Return to the political mainstream. And just to make sure you know how deep our dissatisfaction is, this year we’re voting Republican in State races and congressional races.” Now, remember we did see signs of this happening back in 1984, when Republicans made unexpected gains in States like Texas and North Carolina. And I’m just thinking that some of this is going on out there in the heartland and that this campaign may be starting to break out as a referendum on liberalism itself, a referendum on the direction in which the liberals have taken the once-proud Democratic Party.
Posted on: Sat, 27 Sep 2014 19:12:15 +0000
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