HAPPY ANNIVERSARY, REAGANITES!

Ronald Reagan was a great president who changed our daily lives through his solid domestic policies and the future of world politics and philosophy by bringing down the walls of the U.S.S.R. Beyond the person, his era and administration changed the way people conducted themselves in the White House and in running political campaigns. Check out James Pinkerton's piece:

Can you imagine the Dow Jones Industrial Average at, say, 3000? Can you visualize inflation and interests in double digits? And per capita income maybe two-thirds of what it is now? It's not so difficult to see those things in your mind's eye -- provided you can also visualize the American people re-electing the 39th president, Jimmy Carter.

Instead, 25 years ago today, on November 4, 1980, the voters in 44 states chose Ronald Reagan. So this day, like any happy anniversary, is worth celebrating. But in addition, we should remember that while Reagan demonstrated the importance of optimism, another conservative immortal, Barry Goldwater, offered us a sterner injunction: There are no final victories. And so on this day, and on all days henceforth, we must recommit ourselves to the maintenance, and the furtherance, of the Reaganaut agenda -- because if we don't, we could lose it all.

I was lucky enough to work for Reagan in that '80 presidential campaign -- I even got to shake his hand a couple of times. I can remember cheering his speeches, as he said, "America is not a setting sun, but is a rising sun, whose best days are ahead of it." But although I was an enthusiastic Reaganite, I will admit to having a few quiet doubts about the Gipper being so chipper. After all, for most of the American elite, the "stagflation" of the 70s was viewed not as a decade-long dip in the economy, but instead as the new and permanently lower plateau of economic performance. (full article )