Strengthening Constitutional Self-Government

No Left Turns

Bush and Reagan

Jonah Goldberg, reflecting on the President’s Democracy speech, connecting George W. Bush and Ronald Reagan:
"Ronald Reagan was a internationalist hawk who believed in the power of ideas. He was a pro-lifer. He was, well, Reagan. He was the first Republican President from the ranks of Goldwater conservatism. Back then, the Goldwaterites were still the insurgents and so he made a marriage of convenience with George H. W. Bush, the standard-bearer of classic blue blazer Republicanism, picking him as his VP. But it is now clear that Bush’s own son takes far more after his father’s old boss than he does his own father, at least politically speaking. From tax cuts (and deficits, alas), to his personal conviction on aborrtion, to aligning America with the historical tide of liberty in the world, George W. Bush has proved that he’s a Reaganite, not a "Bushie." He may not be a natural heir to Reagan, but that’s the point. The party is all Reaganite now. What better sign that this is now truly and totally the Gipper’s Party than the obvious conversion of George Bush’s own son?"
(from
The Corner). Here is Ronald Reagan’s speech to the House of Commons in 1982, for those that want to compare it George W. Bush’s Democracy speech.

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