I’ve been watching MSNBC’s day-long coverage of the debate tonight, and many of the Democratic pundits who’ve been interviewed have made mention that none of the GOP candidates can compare to the legacy of President Reagan, and will all pale on the stage in his library tonight. But I disagree…I dug through my bookshelf this morning and pulled out three books: “The Greatest Communicator” by Dick Wirthlin, Reagan’s chief political strategist; “American, Beyond our Grandest Notions” by Chris Matthews; and “Hardball” also by Chris Matthews.
Chris Matthews will moderate the debate tonight, and he knew President Reagan up close and personal when he served as Tip O’Neill’s chief of staff. In both his books, Matthews speaks with respect for President Reagan on a number of characteristics: his rebellious nature to buck conventional political wisdom; his status as the perennial “outsider” vs. the career politician, though he had been involved in politics since the Goldwater days; and his ability to communicate to Americans in a “Mr. Smith Goes to Washington” style. Reagan was eternally patriotic, and loved Americans as much as he loved America…and that always endeared him to real people, regardless of their political party.
Some argue that there will be no one on stage tonight who can live up to that legacy, but according to his books, the moderator does not agree. Chris Matthews describes John McCain in many of the exact same ways he does Reagan. Matthews uses the same “Mr. Smith Goes to Washington” analogy for McCain; expounds on the positive aspect of McCain’s rebellious nature in the face of D.C. inertia – calling him the “personification of the rebel American willing to take on the system”; and describes at length the patriotism of John McCain. Matthews praises McCain’s refusal to accept an early release from his five and a half year incarceration in the Hanoi Hilton, because he knew it would damage the morale of his compatriots. Matthews quotes McCain, “In prison, I fell in love with my country. I had loved her before then, but…it wasn’t until I had lost America for a time that I realized how much I loved her. I still shared the ideals of America. And since those ideals were all that possessed of my country, they became all the more important to me.”
I think Chris Matthews will play “hardball” with all the candidates tonight, but I expect we may see some thinly veiled respect for Senator McCain. In Matthew’s own words the Senator possesses many of the same admirable traits that made President Reagan such a populist, not with politicos, but with Main St. Americans. The stage tonight is in the hallowed hall of an icon, an icon who lost his first bid for the Republican nomination for president in ’76 when “GOP leaders” in all their infinite wisdom backed Ford. According to Dick Wirthlin, Reagan touched the hearts of his staff that night by quoting the old Irish ballad, “I will lay me down and bleed a while. Though I am wounded, I am not slain. I shall rise and fight again.” I believe that same fighting spirit exists in another Irish Republican…John McCain.
Good luck tonight, Senator!