The Democrats hated Reagan for his charisma too

[bluestateguy]

Obama's critics seem to be bothered by the fact that he is charismatic, and yet you know damn well that if he was not that way, then these same people would whine that "he's so booooring!!" I can just hear the kvetching from Campbell Brown already.

In the 80's Democrats mocked Ronald Reagan for being a good speaker. They contended that he was all words, all style and no substance, that he was just the articulate spokesman for hard-right policies, and that he just did what his handlers told him to do. Whether or not these charges are true is an argument for another time. I don't want to get into a long debate about the past, but it took the Democrats many years to realize that Reagan filled a void for many Americans who felt let down by the tumultuous events of the 1960's and 1970's. Reagan was what people wanted in the 1980's because--and this will drive a lot of you crazy--he made them feel good about being Americans again. Anybody who doubts that is kindly asked to go take a look at the electoral maps in 1980 and 1984.

[Larkspur]

1. My mom said Reagan was a B rated actor and a B rated President

I suppose that is better than the F rated boob who calls himself President today.

[MBS]

14. she was right (I go way back with RR: he was my governor, too) n/t

[book_worm]

2. but to me Reagan's didn't seem real--it was a tinsel town Hollywood type of charisma

he always was "acting" and gave Hollywood like sound bites. I have to admit it was effective with the masses.

[niyad]

3. he was a hack actor and a useless governor and an idiot pres who did not, as far as I could

tell, have charisma or speaking ability.

[SoonerPride]

4. Yeah, that's how he struck me.

Bad actor and worse president.

I'm glad he's shuffled off this mortal coil.

[izquierdista]

8. Well..........

Well.......
Well......
Well.....
Well.....
(line please)

[Hieronymus]

5. Reagan's kitchen cabinet ran the country. He was a figurehead for them.

[Ron Green]

6. Reagan WAS a great communicator,

an actor who knew how to time his delivery and play his self-effacement to advantage. The problem was that he was a crook in the company of crooks, and he believed his own free-market bullshit.

[AlinPA]

9. That is a perfect description of Reagan. nt

[AlCzervik]

7. Reagan at HUAC, he's was a real peach.

St. Ronnie at HUAC

STRIPLING: Mr. Reagan, what is your feeling about what steps should be taken to rid the
motion picture industry of any communist influences?

REAGAN: Well, sir, 99 percent of us are pretty well aware of what is going on, and I think,
within the bounds of our democratic rights and never once stepping over the rights given us by
democracy, we have done a pretty good job in our business of keeping those people's activities
curtailed. After all, we must recognize them at present as a political party. On that basis we have
exposed their lies when we came across them, we have opposed their propaganda, and I can
certainly testify that in the case of the Screen Actors Guild we have been eminently successful in
preventing them from, with their usual tactics, trying to run a majority of an organization with a
well organized minority. In opposing those people, the best thing to do is make democracy
work. In the Screen Actors Guild we make it work by insuring everyone a vote and by keeping
everyone informed. I believe that, as Thomas Jefferson put it, if all the American people know
all of the facts they will never make a mistake. Whether the party should be outlawed, that is a
matter for the government to decide. As a citizen, I would hesitate to see any political party
outlawed on the basis of its political ideology. However, if it is proven that an organization is an
agent of foreign power, or in any way not a legitimate political party -- and I think the
government is capable of proving that -- then that is another matter. I happen to be very proud of
the industry in which I work; I happen to be very proud of the way in which we conducted the
fight. I do not believe the communists have ever at any time been able to use the motion picture
screen as a sounding board for their philosophy or ideology.

http://www.twcnet.edu/cschutz/history-page/Consensus/Re...

[KittyWampus]

10. Reagan was incredibly well stage-managed.

[DinahMoeHum]

11. Heh heh. The shoe is now on the other foot.

Payback sucks, 'Pukes!

:kick::kick:

[niyad]

12. when it was finally acknowledged that he had alzheimer's, I called a friend in CA and said, "are you

and I the only two people who knew he had alzheimer's when he was governor?" apparently we were.

[plcdude]

13. Reagan got

charisma after he was out of office. He was consider by most to be a marginally informed and involved individual who played the part of president and read his lines pretty well.