Retrospect: Professional politicians groping to find the real Ronald Reagan

Drummond, R. (1966, July 15). Professional politicians groping to find the real Ronald Reagan. The Washington Reporter, p. 4. Retrieved from http://news.google.com/newspapers?id=Xe5dAAAAIBAJ&sjid=B18NAAAAIBAJ&pg=3071,1512570&dq=ronald+reagan&hl=en

Roscoe Drummond went in search of “the real Ronald Reagan” in the summer of 1966.  As would remain the case for the next 30+ years, there were some who hailed Reagan as a serious, thoughtful, conservative candidate;  and others who dismissed him as “just an actor speaking his lines.”

Rather than produce evidence that Reagan was merely a mouthpiece, his critics frequently spoke in dismissive innuendos—designed to leave the impression that the sheer obviousness of Reagan’s idiocy made it unnecessary to bother with such outdated concepts as “proof.”  Drummond’s piece even made note of such “logic”:

Despite the fact he speaks well extemporaneously and effectively handles all kinds of questions at his press conferences, there are not a few who still seem to be in doubt whether Reagan is speaking his own lines or those written for him.  Does Ronald Reagan think for himself?

It never seemed to occur to Reagan’s critics to question the falsifiability of their own charges.  If good extemporaneous speaking and handling of unscripted questions do not reveal a capacity for self-thought, what—precisely--would be evidence of such?  It seems that when it comes to Leftist critics, the only real evidence of independent thought is that one slavishly adheres to whatever the Leftist critic believes. 

To his credit, Drummond concluded in July of ‘66: 

My own impression is that Reagan is considerably more than an actor speaking well-learned lines…Without presuming to appraise all his views, there is no doubt that Ronald Reagan is an intelligent, knowledgeable person in his own right and quite capable of thinking creatively for himself.

Is President Obama consulting the Pat Brown electoral playbook?

Drummond, R. (1966, July 12). Can Reagan beat Pat Brown? Youngstown Vindicator. Retrieved from http://news.google.com/newspapers?id=KwJJAAAAIBAJ&sjid=-oIMAAAAIBAJ&pg=2698,3491894&dq=ronald+reagan&hl=en

In this even-handed piece, Roscoe Drummond opines that anyone purporting to predict the outcome of the 1966 California Governor’s race is either a fool or a liar.  Drummond held that both Pat Brown and Ronald Reagan would have serious hurdles to overcome in winning the general election.  

In Reagan’s case, Drummond repeated the frequently-heard (even today) complaint that Reagan had heretofore spoken “largely in attractive generalities.”  I’m skeptical, however, that the reality of the Reagan campaign was quite as vanilla as Drummond makes it sound. 

(I’ve read numerous books and articles over the years which emphasized Reagan’s use of town-hall style Q&A sessions in his primary campaign.  Indeed, Reagan himself contended that it was the citizens of California who kept bringing up the issue of student unrest at Berkeley—an issue which, even today, some contend Reagan inflamed for the purpose of winning the election.)

In any event, Drummond concluded:

[Reagan’s] potential supporters  may not feel they must agree with him on everything, but they will want a fuller disclosure of his convictions and his capacity to deal with the burgeoning problems of [California]

With regards to Governor Brown, Drummond candidly admitted the incumbent was vulnerable, in part, “because many feel that his administration has become weary and self-righteous.”  

Well…let’s just be thankful that we don’t have any Democrats like that running for re-election today.