Since the hub-bub over Senator Barack Obama's comments about Former President Ronald Reagan in Nevada in January, I've been curious about the resonance between what happened with Reagan in 1980 and what is happening now. They feel similar and totally different. And, might I add, similar in one overriding way, but different in many. These thoughts are developing in my mind, and aided today by this (below) insightful if limited engagement with the question from E. J. Dionne, Jr. He captures some of the strength of the similarity. But the differences are really where things get interesting. Especially in regards to theology, Reagan was much more like George W. Bush and our American Puritan heritage that divides saint and sinner, good and evil. Obama represents the strain of American theology that goes back through Reinhold Niebuhr, through Abraham Lincoln, and embodies the view that we are paradoxically saint and sinner, good and evil, each one of us, and the complexity of leadership under the judgment and mercy of God offers us possibilities for incremental improvements, but no direct path to righteousness. That kind of comparison is unlikely to make it into the news coverage aside from the couple of columns by David Brooks which I've blogged about here.
Barack Obama's critics bear a remarkable resemblance to the liberals who labored mightily to dismiss Ronald Reagan in 1980.
Reagan's foes wrote him off as a right-wing former actor who amiably spouted conservative bromides and must have been engaged in some sort of Hollywood flimflam.
Like Reagan's enemies, Obama's opponents concede that he gives a great speech. Indeed, both Obama and Reagan came to wide attention because of a single oration that offered hope in the midst of a losing campaign -- Obama's 2004 keynote to the Democratic National Convention and Reagan's 1964 "A Time for Choosing" address delivered on behalf of Barry Goldwater. But surely speeches aren't enough, are they?
The Last 'Yes, We Can' Candidate
By E. J. Dionne Jr.
Friday, February 29, 2008;
Page A19, Washington PostBy E. J. Dionne Jr.
Barack Obama's critics bear a remarkable resemblance to the liberals who labored mightily to dismiss Ronald Reagan in 1980.
Reagan's foes wrote him off as a right-wing former actor who amiably spouted conservative bromides and must have been engaged in some sort of Hollywood flimflam.
Like Reagan's enemies, Obama's opponents concede that he gives a great speech. Indeed, both Obama and Reagan came to wide attention because of a single oration that offered hope in the midst of a losing campaign -- Obama's 2004 keynote to the Democratic National Convention and Reagan's 1964 "A Time for Choosing" address delivered on behalf of Barry Goldwater. But surely speeches aren't enough, are they?
Recent Comments