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Obama Is the New Reagan
A former Reagan speechwriter says Obama is like The Great Communicator in his style, oratory, and temperament.
Now Barack Obama has been elected, he can begin to work as the transformative president he said he wanted to be. When he declared that ambition on the primary trail, he found himself vilified by Hillary Clinton for comparing himself to Ronald Reagan.
But that comparison is apt, as is becoming evident by the hour. The inspiring, elevated, ambitious victory speech he gave in Chicago last night confirmed that he has taken on the mantle that Ronald Reagan laid down after two terms. Obama hopes to change the country for the better, as Reagan did, and already he seems heading in the right direction.
Effective government is what we need. Call it New Deal II. And Roosevelt’s oratory, his Fireside Chats, helped to inspire people to support his programs. Roosevelt, Reagan...Obama.
During the primaries, Obama said Reagan had set politics on a new trajectory, and that Bill Clinton, for example, had not. He was right, but was severely criticized by Democrats for saying something positive about Reagan.
In fact the two men have a great deal in common. Temperament, to be sure. And like Reagan, Obama will be a transformative president. And like Reagan, Obama is a Great Communicator, his oratory energizing people for change.
The first time most people became aware of Obama was when he made that great speech at the 2004 Democratic convention. We knew then we would hear from him again. He might prove to be the next great orator in American politics after Ronald Reagan. In a parallel way, most Americans became aware of Reagan when he made what came to be known as The Speech in 1964, supporting Barry Goldwater.
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Jeffrey Hart is professor emeritus of English at Dartmouth College. He wrote for the National Review for more than three decades, where he was senior editor. He wrote speeches for Ronald Reagan while he was governor of California, and for Richard Nixon.
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Jeffrey Hart is professor emeritus of English at Dartmouth College. He wrote for the National Review for more than three decades, where he was senior editor. He wrote speeches for Ronald Reagan while he was governor of California, and for Richard Nixon.
This is going to ruffle quite a few feathers! I have the same sense about Obama and I hope we're right. The thing that strikes me most about him is that he seems to be relatively free of that noxious political disease, Ideology. Let us hope that Obama's defining quality is his thoughtfulness, and that we are not merely projecting empty hopes upon an empty, media constructed vessel.
i pray obama win because we need change not the same
o crap we are better than that we deserve better than that
so when u vote be sure u are making the right choice
monay
I don't agree with your premise that Obama is like Reagan.
I find Obama a much more serious, and intelectual man than R.Reagan. Reagan had charm and good looks, and a wonderful delivery, yet he lacked the real gravitas this position needs.
I think Obama will need to steal a page from the original Roosevelt's (Teddy that is) playbook as well - the original "Square Deal" trust busted the big business players back down to size.
When one man makes $3,000,000,000 a year and another man who works for him makes $ 30,000 a year - if he's lucky! - then some BUSTIN' needs to happen. The divide between the two is just too vast. It is causing our entire capitalistic system to disenegrate. The pyramid of money at the top has disentegrated the chuck of salaries underneath it to the point that the top is toppling.
The few in the middle who make enough to be comfortable just aren't able to speak for the many beneath them any longer who have nothing and do all the work and make just as many sacrifices as those who justify those billion dollar salaries because they take the big risks. Their big heads need to be cut back down to size.
Obama is not the next Reagan. He is the first Obama.
From EUROPEAN COMMISSION CHIEF JOSE MANUEL BARROSO, via BBC:
"This is a time for a renewed commitment between Europe and the United States of America. We need to change the current crisis into a new opportunity. We need a new deal for a new world.
"I sincerely hope that with the leadership of President Obama, the United States of America will join forces with Europe to drive this new deal - for the benefit of our societies, for the benefit of the world."
If any of you are familiar with Codex Alimentarius, North American Union, New World Order, Bilderberg, or any of those terms, you should be worried. At least with Bush, you could see the lies a mile away... BTW, I voted for Cynthia McKinney, she was the only one to stand up and question the forensic evidence, or lack thereof, of 9/11, and the voting fraud in 2000 and 2004.. ask yourself this.. after two fraudulent elections, why was it so easy for Obama? Where did all his money come from? What REAL favors are attached? Then check out google video, type in "peter gibson" and see the cnn clip of Obama's press core being tricked into getting on a plane so Obama could meet with Bilderberg. He's just another Dark Suit.
Should the Grenadians be afraid?
Lets hope that Obama's oratory are not full of disaster, like Reagan's "Shining City on the Hill" or "Standing Tall" crap.
Obama and Reagan couldn't have been more opposite in their positions.
First: LBJ, except for the Vietnam war, was a great president, a master at making ideals into policy. Bush will go down as the worst ever (apologies to James Buchanan), one who by the end had accomplished literally nothing while president, having won no victory for American prosperity or freedom.
Second: Everything new is invariably compared to the past. Old time Republicans like Hart, estranged from their party, seem to hoping real hard that Obama is the next Reagan. Reagan, a holy word for the GOP. It is not beyond possibility that Obama could far outshine Reagan, that only Roosevelt or Lincoln could be called equals. That has yet to be written. But he does possess a singular quality of large vision (like Reagan and Kennedy) and an attention to detail (like Clinton). This could foretell a very effective and far reaching presidency, and a long cold winter for the GOP. President Obama, a Game Changer.
Thank you.
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