American rightwingers are asking 'what would Reagan do?'

During the Bush administration car bumper stickers in America used to pose the question “What Would Jesus Do?” or WWJD?

Very often the answer was assumed to be “Invade Iraq” which may not stand up to too much biblical scrutiny.

Now across American rightwingers are asking “WWRD?” What would Reagan Do?

The right wing, especially the Tea Party movement, feel as though they have all the energy in American politics right now. They are angry, noisy and energized, while their Democratic opponents seem timid and defensive.

But what the Tea Party doesn’t have is a leader or a figure head. That is deliberate because they see themselves as an insurgent force not a political party.

But it means that disaffected are casting around looking for someone who seems to embody their political beliefs. And seems like they have chosen Ronald Reagan.

Republicans get in line to lavish praise on the man they see as their last great president. The 2008 Republican presidential primaries were essentially a competition among the candidates to insist they loved Reagan more than the next man.

Even then-Senator Barak Obama got into a lot of trouble with former President Clinton when he said in a radio interview that Reagan was the last president who really got things done.

Reagan is seen these days by many Americans as one of their truly great leaders – the man who put an end to the Cold war, who got rid of the Berlin Wall simply by insisting that Gorbachev “take down this wall”.

Every so often someone suggests adding his chiselled profile to Mount Rushmore. And Republicans in Congress want to put his face on the $50 bill. They already re-named Washington National Airport for him.

But all the more left wing residents of DC (which any Republican will tell you is ALL the residents of DC) refuse to use the name Reagan National Airport and still ask taxi drivers to take them to “National”.

It may take few more years before Reagan’s name sticks – after all you don’t hear Republicans in New York refusing to call the airport JFK.

When I went to hear Sarah Palin addressing the Tea Party Convention in Nashville last months I noticed she got some of her loudest cheers when she invoked the name of the 40th president of the United States – on the day that would have been his 99th birthday.

She shares much of his small government ideology and his high wattage star power. And many of his perceived weaknesses as a leader.

Reagan too was criticised for not being well briefed and an intellectual lightweight who was not interested in the fine detail of policy.

If we were ever to see President Palin in the White House there would surely be an irresistible public demand to revive the long running Spitting Image series of skits from the 80s – “the president’s brain is missing”.

But now even the Washington Post is asking the question – would Reagan vote for Sarah Palin? And concluding that he very well might.

Maybe it’s just an 80s thing. We are so far into an 80s fashion revival, with all those shoulder pads and legwarmers everywhere, that when I found myself at an 80s theme party last weekend it took me half an hour to notice that people were in fancy dress.

I insist this is because of the nostalgic styles currently on the catwalks and not because I am old enough to remember when everyone dressed like that at parties for real.

And I am sure I saw someone wearing a vintage “Vote Reagan” campaign badge. Hard to tell if it was a fashion statement or a political one.