Nancy Reagan to Bush: 'We Don't Support Your Re-Election'

Look on the bright side...at least she didn't delve into Dick Cheney's Book of Phrases when talking to Bush!

 

What I'm getting at is this: are we assuming that she voted Republican previously? I only know here as a former First Lady who urged young people to "Just Say No."

She doesn't strike me as any kind a thinking person, to wit: much ado about nothing here. Didn't she consult astrologers?

 

You really think her demanding that they not use her husband's image in connection with the re-election campaign is much ado about nothing?

 

Yes, given what we know. No one here has certified that Nancy was a died-in-the-wool Republican in the first place. She was only married to one.

Until more is know about the motivation of her posture on this, it's a bunch of wishful thinking from Bush opponents.

<b>Ron Reagan probably wouldn't have voted for his father; he certainly wouldn't have if President Reagan hadn't been his father.</b>

 

So, I assume that you don't believe that they Bush campaign was going to use Reagan's image in any of their ads?

 

No. I assume they were. Why do you ask that?

 

So you don't think that Reagan's widow asking them not to use them isn't a big deal? Do you think they'll respect her wishes?

 

Well we know she wasn't left wing...

"While working as an actress at MGM, she met Reagan in 1950 through an old family friend, director Mervyn LeRoy. She had gone to him with a problem - her name had been placed in an advertisement in a list of people she considered left wing. LeRoy called Reagan, the president of the Screen Actors Guild, who discovered Nancy's name had been put in the ad by mistake." link

 

Oh, she met him when she wanted to get her name off of a black list.

 

I think they will largely respect her wishes; I expect they'll sneak a few images in there that are historical in nature or something-- putting them beyond criticism.

My question is this: do we know if Nancy voted for GWB in 2000?

The only indicators are three:

1. "The Reagans’ split with Bush and the party centers around stem cell research"

2. “Mrs. Reagan does not support President Bush’s re-election and neither to most members of the President’s family,” says a spokesman for the former First Lady." (did she before?)

3. "Ron Reagan is joined by his sister Patty in opposing Bush’s re-election effort." (why's Nancy not included?)

 

Patty probably voted against her father in 1980 and 1984.

 

So you really feel that the administration not being able to use the biggest conservative icon's image or words in their re-election bid is much ado about nothing?

I don't care what her previous political leanings are, that's honestly irrelevant, and I'll be happy to say the same if Democrats try to use it to their advantage. I do think it's huge that she's demanded them not to use her husband's image or words, something everyone expected them to do.

 

Too bad this was 4 years ago
Nancy Reagan endorses George W. Bush for president

May 17, 2000
Web posted at: 3:51 p.m. EDT (1951 GMT)

WASHINGTON (CNN) -- Calling him a candidate "Ronnie would be proud of," former first lady Nancy Reagan on Wednesday endorsed Texas Gov. George W. Bush for president.

Nancy Reagan, shown here in this file photo, endorsed Texas Gov. George W. Bush for president Wednesday.

"I am proud to endorse George W. Bush for president," Mrs. Reagan said. "He is doing a fine job of carrying on Ronnie's legacy. His agenda of tax cuts, smaller government, and a strong national defense will build pride in America just as it did when my husband was president."

The wife of former President Ronald Reagan -- the tremendously popular California Republican who served as president from 1981 to 1989 -- announced her endorsement in a written statement issued by the Bush campaign. The former president suffers from Alzheimer's Disease and no longer makes public appearances.

"George W. Bush will help America once more become a 'shining city on a hill,'" Mrs. Reagan said, in reference to a phrase former President Reagan often used to describe his goal for the United States.

The Texas governor's father, former President George Bush, served as Reagan's vice president.

"I am honored to have Mrs. Reagan's support," Bush responded. "Throughout the years she has stood side by side with one of America's greatest presidents. I thank her for her endorsement and pledge an optimistic, positive campaign, in the Reagan tradition, to renew America's spirit and encourage a new era of personal responsibility and freedom."

 

Thanks Outlaw. Now that her endorsement of GWB four years ago has surfaced, I would have to say that her public statement that she (1)doesn't support his re-election, and (2)doesn't want her late husband's picture used in GWB ads, is huge.

But, then again, 9/11 changed everything!

 

I think it depends on her motivation: sentimental or political.

I think it is too bad for the Republicans and in that sense it is a big deal, but this has exploded into an egg-on-their-face shame for the Republicans when we don't know the whole story.

 

<b>Originally posted by outlaw

WASHINGTON (CNN) -- Calling him a candidate "Ronnie would be proud of," former first lady Nancy Reagan on Wednesday endorsed Texas Gov. George W. Bush for president.

...

"I am proud to endorse George W. Bush for president," Mrs. Reagan said. "He is doing a fine job of carrying on Ronnie's legacy. His agenda of tax cuts, smaller government, and a strong national defense will build pride in America just as it did when my husband was president." ...</b>

If her stated preference is really political, where did GWB go wrong?

A. Strong national defense.
B. Tax cuts?
C. Small government?
D. Other?

 

nah they'll just call her a flip-flopper

 

e. all of the above!

 

Might be a combination of not opening up stem cell research combined with wearing his religion on his sleeve (to paraphrase her son).

 

That was over 50 years ago. My politics have changed a lot in less than 20 years.