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The former Florida governor, until now a revered figure in the party, had the temerity to state in public what many others think in private: that the Republican Party has become so intransigent that even Ronald Reagan couldn’t fit under its tent.

“Reagan would have, based on his record of finding accommodation, finding some degree of common ground, as would my dad — they would have a hard time if you define the Republican Party . . . as having an orthodoxy that doesn’t allow for disagreement, doesn’t allow for finding some common ground,” Bush said Monday in a meeting at Bloomberg headquarters in New York, according to the online publication Buzzfeed.

“Back to my dad’s time and Ronald Reagan’s time — they got a lot of stuff done with a lot of bipartisan support,” Bush added. Reagan today “would be criticized for doing the things that he did.:

This brought immediate condemnation from the Grand Inquisitor himself, Defender of the Faith and Keeper of the Tax Pledge Grover Norquist, who told Talking Points Memo that Bush’s sentiments were “foolish” and “bizarre.”

Column at Washington Post

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Reagan had a Democratic controlled Congress, so did Bush 41.

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That being said, who gives a fuck what Norquist, or Bush has to say, neither of them are running for office.

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ORIGINAL: dcnovice

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Reagan had a Democratic controlled Congress, so did Bush 41.

Reagan had a Republican Senate for the bulk of his tenure, and there were a fair number of conservative Democrats in the House who supported his key policies.

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That being said, who gives a fuck what Norquist, or Bush has to say, neither of them are running for office.

Jeb Bush is someone with a unique, inside perspective on the Republican Party, so i find his take on its evolution interesting. Others may too.

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ORIGINAL: Winterapple

Yes, he has a valid point.
Reagan and Tip O'Neill had an amiable relationship and conservative democrats
helped pass some of Reagan's policies.
Today no one on the right will concede there
is such a thing as a conservative democrat.
And Reagan and both Bushes had pinko sympathies? Whose next to be flayed as a
fellow traveler. Barry Goldwater?

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That being said, who gives a fuck what Norquist, or Bush

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ORIGINAL: subrob1967
Wasn't it the left who coined the term, Neoconservative?

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ORIGINAL: subrob1967

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ORIGINAL: Winterapple

Yes, he has a valid point.
Reagan and Tip O'Neill had an amiable relationship and conservative democrats
helped pass some of Reagan's policies.
Today no one on the right will concede there
is such a thing as a conservative democrat.
And Reagan and both Bushes had pinko sympathies? Whose next to be flayed as a
fellow traveler. Barry Goldwater?

Wasn't it the left who coined the term, Neoconservative?

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ORIGINAL: dcnovice
Thoughts? Did Governor Bush make a valid point?

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Else they have no actual role models for success

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There are two Ronald Reagans. The first is the historical one, who was way too conservative for at-the-time liberals, partly because his pragmatism meant he could pass a lot of legislation. The second is the mythical one, who has been remade into a superconservative, with no pragmatism or compromise at all. Bush was simply pointing out the difference between the two, and the contemporary GOP was forced to deny it. Else they have no actual role models for success, only gridlock.

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ORIGINAL: Hillwilliam
Wasn't it the Right who coined the term RINO to paint onto someone who actually listens to what the other side says instead of shrieking like a howler monkey?

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ORIGINAL: Marc2b

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There are two Ronald Reagans. The first is the historical one, who was way too conservative for at-the-time liberals, partly because his pragmatism meant he could pass a lot of legislation. The second is the mythical one, who has been remade into a superconservative, with no pragmatism or compromise at all. Bush was simply pointing out the difference between the two, and the contemporary GOP was forced to deny it. Else they have no actual role models for success, only gridlock.

Reagan was a "Mom, Baseball and Apple Pie," kind of American whereas today's Republican party are more of the "God, Guts, and Guns," variety Of course, by that they mean their God and their guns but the guts of someone else's kid spread all over the battle field.

Another thing about Reagan that differentiates him from today's conservatives (or pretty much all politicians, for that matter) was his affability. Reagan rarely raised his voice or showed any signs of temper. He would criticize the opposition but he was not given to outlandish put downs or accusations of evil intent. He understood that rudeness was counterproductive and that returning rudeness with politeness was an effective way of disarming opposition (as well as making it easier to work with others).