Episode 40: Michael Reagan on Why Conservatives Need to Stop Looking for the Next Ronald Reagan
Following the Reagan Library Republican debate, I talk with conservative author, radio host, and speaker, Michael Reagan. He also happens to be the son of the late President Ronald Reagan. He says the 2016 GOP candidates need to stop trying to imitate his father and repackage the Reagan legacy to better match their own political brands. Instead they should embody Reagan's spirit and his leadership qualities.
He says if conservatives want to win in 2016, they need to focus on the future of the party instead of looking back nostalgically to the 80's and the Reagan era. He also says that many conservatives seem to misunderstand Ronald Reagan and he questions whether the icon of the conservative movement could get elected in the era of the tea party and strict insistence on conservative "purity" from less moderate factions of the Republican Party. Plus for the first time, Michael Reagan will tell the story of how the morning after losing the 1976 Republican nomination to President Gerald Ford, Ronald Reagan's major backers tried to convince him to run against Gerald Ford as an independent candidate and he'll tell us why his father turned them down.
Click the link below to download the episode on iTunes.
Also be sure to follow Michael Reagan on Twitter at @ReaganWorld. You can also visit and donate to his Ronald Reagan Legacy project at www.ronaldreaganlegacyproject.com, and order his books like TWICE ADOPTED and THE NEW REAGAN REVOLUTION on Amazon.