While
the angry tone of Goldwater drove people away, the tone of Reagan that seemed
moderate, friendly and appealing drew their attention and they were ready to
sell the California governor to the country as president using all the wealth
they possessed and a questionable argument -- the economy will grow when we put
more money in the hands of the wealthy and the captains of industry.
It was formerly know as trickle-down economics. Good living will trickle down to the masses when the blessed wealthy put the money they gained from tax cuts to work, thus employing the underprivileged. Further, government is our problem. It's too inefficient and provides too much welfare. Privatization was a key word for this new conservatism.
Reagan was their man for the presidency not because of any particular talent or strong belief but because of a winning demeanor, a wonderful speaking style and a lovable whimsical smile. In 1968 it was obvious that Reagan was being groomed for a presidential run. He had been governor for only a year-and-a-half, but the progressive Republican Group, The Ripon Society, declared him incapable of managing and governing.
It didn't phase the king makers one iota. They paraded their robot who, to their surprise, was developing anger in a direction they applauded. Influenced by his former association with GE and his strong anti-communist posture from his guild presidency days, he declared himself a Vietnam hawk and railed against California state college students who demonstrated against the war. In what might have been an attempt to thin their ranks and seek revenge he, for the first time in California, imposed tuition fees at state universities.
The California crowd nurtured him and he became the presidential candidate and then he became president, defeating Jimmy Carter after his famous "There you go again," referring to Carter raising taxes. Four years later, Walter Mondale reminded him that he did exactly that himself. He was truly the Teflon president and every thing slipped off him: his assault on the right to strike when he fired the air traffic controllers, his disregard for federal law during the Iran Contra scandal and his constant assaults on federal budgets creating the inefficient government that he attacked.
The myth has persisted. He is the darling of the conservatives. Office seekers like McCain declare that they are conservatives in the Reagan tradition. Worst of all, Reagan interferes with progress from the grave. Until we all recognize that government is not the enemy and that the enemy is greed and manipulation by those big cats who have prospered from deregulation, uncontrolled influence peddling and who have concocted a story that has common people voting against their own interests, we will see more violence and hateful demonstrations against social reform.
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